Damned To Me
by Renegade Seraph
Summary: AU Squinoa. After serving a wrongful jail sentence, Squall returns to find long standing enemy Seifer has stolen his life. But with no one on his side, can he ever win back his rightful place as Commander?
1. Remember Squall Leonhart

**Author's Note**: I'm pretty sure there are not many people here that would remember this story from the first time around. It was originally posted on ffnet **10-31-02**, four years ago! I've decided to take it down, totally revamp it, and post it again, because I don't feel I paid enough attention to it first time around. Thank you those who have reviewed this story before, hopefully (if you are reading) you'll enjoy this updated version a lot more.

**Damned To Me**

**Chapter One: Remember Squall Leonhart**

Squall swung his silver Gunblade over his shoulder. To anyone else, unaccustomed to a Gunblade, it would have felt heavy on the skin, but to Squall it simply felt right to have it there. It was his only security, his only friend. It was also the only thing they hadn't taken away from him.

The heavy rain crashed onto his long black trench coat, spraying back up into the air when it failed to find a way inside. The ground below him was fast becoming a watery soup of mud and leaves, an earthy smell rising from every drenched plant or bush. The grass was straining under the weight of the water, desperately to remain upright, and looking down it reminded him of his own fate. He himself was weighed down under their dirt, still trying to find a way out, still trying to stand tall.

His heavy boots moved from the muddy plains to the patterned stones of a path, as he made his way back to his lodgings. He passed through the town gates, looking down the road where nothing had changed since he had first set eyes on the places, years ago. He had been in the town of Balamb for over a week and already he was sick of it. Nobody ever broke the rules. There was no crimes, vandalism, or raging drunks on the streets. In fact Squall seemed out of place in such a town.

He was a criminal. Or so they said, so everyone believed. If crime hadn't been a way of life before, it was the only way to survive now. He'd steal to make ends meet, steal to feed himself, sneak into places he wasn't suppose to be, and when there was nothing to be stolen other than drink, he'd drink to forget the hunger in his stomach and the pain in his heart.

Soon he found himself living only for the adrenaline rushes that came from the satisfaction of being almost caught. For someone who had once lived their life full of discipline, he realised too late that he was setting himself on a road to destruction. Without orders to follow, his days passed by in a series of random events that made him feel even more lost than before.

Returning to Balamb had been in a moment when his thoughts were unclear. He remembered breaking into a house one morning, taking some break out of their cupboards and finding on the kitchen table a ticket to Balamb Town. The ticket had been waiting for him, or so he thought at the time, and leaving the bread half eaten he'd taken the ticket instead.

Even though the ticket he had found seemed to point him his direction, Squall could still not find the courage to take the next step. He knew in his heart that he had to return to Balamb Garden, that that was where his life could be reclaimed, but it was not something he was ready to do. So many memories would greet him upon seeing that place again, and it was the painful ones he wanted to avoid. Desperate as he was to see what had happed to his former comrades, his mind was still locked in the dark prison that they had put him in.

Someone had told him once that the secret to knowing your own thoughts was to write them in a diary. This had seemed like a stupid idea at the time, but now he wasn't as sure. The owner of the hotel let him stay in return for free shifts in the bar and for shifting numerous crates out the back, and he in return helped himself to the free items left for guests in the rooms. Among these free gifts were some pens and writing paper, in case the guest wished to write home. As soon as he retuned, Squall fetched the paper and began writing.

**Diary**

_Two years have passed, and still I have not returned. People complained at first when I was sent away, they thought it was an outrage. My case had the biggest news coverage of any 'criminal' in history; something that at the time I had thought would work to my advantage. But people forget, once so loud they have all fallen silent. Something new must had come along, and the collective attention turned on something else._

_I am not allowed to go back, I was banished. Thrown out of my home by a liar. This liar, thief too, stole my life, my home and the only person I learnt to trust._

_A year and a half I have spent in the Galbaldian prison, and not a day more. My sentence was supposed to be three years, but I was let out on good behaviour. Even though I served only half the time I was sentenced too, it was enough. Damp walls were all I could look at; sometimes the guards allowed me a crumpled picture of my Angel, Rinoa. But even her sweet face couldn't keep me from slipping into depression. That long tunnel of darkness was no stranger to me. Everyday I fell deeper into it. One time, one year into the sentence, when I was in danger of loosing my mind, a soft voice called me from despair and gave me hope. _

_My saviour was my sister, the only one who stood by me throughout it all. She had never believed for one moment that I was guilty, and had defended me until the very end._

_My Ellone. She saved me in more ways than she will ever know. She made me remember who I was, and told me I would return to Balamb to take my place as commander once more. She was right, I had to return, my life and that place were linked, and there was no Squall Leonhart if he did not belong to Garden. _

_Returning to Garden is not a perilous as you might suspect, for no one would recognise me anymore. I have changed so much. My brown hair is now cut short and coloured a dark blonde. They shaved my hair when I was in prison; it was uniform dress code they told me. I then found that short hair was much easier to live with when you mostly lived rough. The colour I roughly applied anytime I had the money to do it, even I didn't recognize myself most of the time. Even though I looked nothing like myself, it was worth the hassle for being invisible. _

_I changed my clothes too, not that I had a lot of choice, they released me in prison garb and took everything else. I had always thought Seifer Almasy was mad for wearing a trench coat, but I realise now that I couldn't have lived without mine. I hid under it as much as I could. _

_Almasy see what you did to me!_

Squall placed the paper down on the table and put his pen on top of it. He didn't really feel all that different for writing anything down, in fact he felt tired. But one thing was clear; he wasn't getting anywhere staying in this room. He had a choice, stay in this disguise all his life, work at the hotel for peanuts, or return.

In a week's time it would be recruitment day once again at Balamb Garden, everyone who wanted a place arrived hopeful. Squall had one week to make up his mind, and one year of waiting around if he missed it.


	2. Squall VS Seifer

**Damned To Me**

**Chapter One: Squall VS Seifer**

It was recruitment day once more. Seifer had seen so many of these in his lifetime. People came and went, happy or disappointed, but whatever the outcome, no one ever forgot the experience. Students, who were lucky enough to have passed last year, milled about watching everyone else who had aspirations and dreams of glory. Students walked with pride, they were the chosen ones, and they felt they had the right to look down on all those merely trying. SeeD's rushed about trying to keep everyone organised, at least the SeeD's who weren't on missions, and these members of Garden didn't look down on anyone, after all, they had been left behind too.

Seifer loved recruitment day. Back in his student years it had been the perfect opportunity for punishing those who were causing trouble, and to cause trouble himself. The disciplinary committee, in which he considered himself the leader, had filled their days making everyone else's miserable. But only three recruitment days meant more to him than the others, one of them being his own, and the other two, the ones he had seen as a commander.

The rules were very simple. Applicants of 5-8 years would be taken on straight away. They would not have to pass any tests other than simple reading and writing, maths and fundamental magic theory. No child was rejected; the test simply placed them in groups of ability. The next few years determined whether or not they could survive the hard life of SeeD. Many left before taking any real exams.

Applicants in the 9-16 range would take a written exam. After the age of 15, applying for Garden became much more difficult. It was assumed that by the age of 16 you would have a sound knowledge of the world, and if you were serious about a career in SeeD you would have already become familiar with your chosen weapon. The test consisted of higher-level maths, intermediate magic, a understanding of functioning, and a sound knowledge of the law in each country. Children studied hard if their heart was in it, and those who simply just wanted a job and wouldn't study got left behind.

There was also a category for over 16's, which usually consisted of middle-aged men who'd fallen in love with the idea of a military lifestyle; who saw the life as something glamorous that was portrayed on the TV. Sometimes there were genuine fighters, people who had studied independently, ex-soldiers, and occasionally people who were under government orders never to reveal how they'd received their training.

Finally to be taken on as a candidate, the applicant would have to show their skills in a simulated battle. This was done by fighting against an opposition who had the same weapon as yourself. Of course it wasn't a real fight. The Applicants just had to block a few attacks, then counter-attack. The 5-8 year olds found this extremely fun, being allowed to hit someone with a weapon was a dream come true. To the 9-16 year olds, it was a lot more serious, they knew they were being assessed for judgment, and since there was not a lot of time fore displaying their skills, what they did show was important.

Seifer smiled as he took his place on the raised platform. The training centre had been emptied to accommodate a large seating venue. The seats were filling up fast. Every year the already made students were given the day free from lessons and usually spent it at the recruitment arena. Of course some saw it was great opportunity for a long needed lye-in, or an outing into town. Seifer enjoyed recruitment days a lot, he liked the desperation and excitement that hung in the air.

The first contesting applicants were beginning to arrive. They were being shown into a clearing away from the jostling audience. They made a long line and were sorted into ages, alphabetical order and choice of weapon.

"Seifer, you could have called me," someone whispered into his ear. It wasn't a soft whisper of secrets; it was the harsh whisper of not wanting anyone to hear what was said.

Seifer turned around quickly to meet with the eyes of Rinoa Heartilly, she had an annoyed look on her face. He should have called her really; he knew how angry she got when she thought she was being left out. But since she'd never before taken any interest in recruitment days, he hadn't bothered.

"I didn't think you'd bother showing up," Seifer said trying to wrap his arm around her middle, but Rinoa pulled away.

She was still feeling angry and was determined to make him work hard to get her smiling again. She knew her moods made him irritated. He liked her compliant and happy, as that way he was able to do what he wanted. When Rinoa was angry, she wanted to know everything he got up to.

"I just came to tell that I would have come, had you called and asked me," she said folding her arms and stepping out of his reach.

Seifer frowned, was it him, or did that just not make any sense? Finally under Rinoa's angry stare, he understood that she wanted him to ask her. He didn't really care, but he also didn't want the hassle the alternative would bring. Rinoa was waiting.

"Will you sit down next to me?" he asked patting the seat beside him. "It'll be starting soon."

Rinoa looked at him, trying to work out whether he was mocking her or not. He seemed to be sincere so she seated herself beside him. However, if she could have read his thoughts, she would walked the other way. Seifer was looking at her standing over him, his thoughts were along the lines of 'sit down you stupid girl, or you'll make me miss the beginning!' lucky for him, Rinoa didn't see anything impatient in his manner.

"How'd you manage to get back so early anyway, I thought you were still on that stupid missing child mission?" Seifer asked, his eyes firmly on the arena although there was no one there yet.

"Don't call it stupid, Seifer, it was very important!" Rinoa said indignant. "We found the child, a young girl, unharmed, and our mission finished early. The others stayed in the city, I came back to see you."

"How nice. You got paid for the expected time of the mission, not the actual time I suppose?" he asked warily. He had changed many rules since becoming commander. Charging for expected mission times was one way of making extra money on a mission, and Seifer liked money.

Rinoa was especially bad at this; she thought it was exploiting people in their time of need, especially since Seifer always reckoned the missions would take double the time they usually took to complete. He expected her to say no, but she surprised him.

"Of course, that's the rules now, isn't it?" she replied, her voice sounded as though she wished to please him by what she was saying.

Seifer grinned.

"That's my girl," he said pulling her in a kissing her roughly on the lips. Before Rinoa could respond or insist he be gentler, his attention was lost on the arena again.

"Sir! Here are the names of the students that will be competing in round one. I believe more will arrive later," Quistis said, handing over the sheet with all the important information upon it. Seifer inspected it closely; he was always on the look out for things that were suspicious.

"Thank you Quistis," he replied smiling smarmily. Quistis returned his smile and then caught Rinoa's eye, causing her to blush slightly and walk away.

"Have you two been flirting again whilst I was away? Seifer you promised me that you wouldn't do that anymore!" Rinoa asked. Seifer looked at her for a second, she looked hurt, but she couldn't command his attention. He felt sorry for her, but for all the wrong reasons.

"I like having her call me Sir. It makes up for all the times she bossed me about when she was my instructor. It's fun watching her crawl after me for a good word, how tables turn, hey?"

Rinoa turned her back on him, but Seifer just looked at his list.

Matt Valentine 

_Leigha Speltan_

_Dan Leaton_

His eyes skimmed over the rest of the list, but somehow they managed to keep wandering back to Quistis. She was talking to one of the hopeful candidates. He seemed the same age as himself with spiky blondish hair. Something about him appeared familiar to Seifer, though he couldn't place it.

Quistis, it seemed was quite impressed by this stranger, she kept blushing as she spoke, even her body language told that something was intriguing her. The dark-blonde didn't look too bothered about it was she was telling him, and kept searching the faces of the crowd instead. His electric blue eyes searched until they locked with Seifer's.

Something about him was not welcoming, how he held eye contact for far to long was comfortable. There was something hard in his eyes, something dead. Seifer broke contact and attempted a conversation with Rinoa. But she refused to speak to him; her thoughts were miles away in a land where Seifer and Quistis were the item, and she was out of the picture. He gave up on her and decided to start the event instead.

The crowd hushed as Seifer took the centre stand. He welcomed out Matt Valentine. Matt had chosen a fight of just hand-to-hand combat. To challenge him was Zell, the Garden's leading martial artist. Seifer liked to watch Zell make a fool of himself. There was no doubting that he was good, that one kick or punch would knock a man out, but Zell had a clumsy way about him that usually made him look like he didn't know where he was.

The two men both took up a battle stance. Zell bowed and delivered a high kick to Matt's head, but it was dodged. The next kick was intercepted but the final blow hit home. Dr Kadowaki rushed over to help the boy, but he had already managed to stand up. He looked around in a daze and finally stooped forward. Zell offered to help him to the infirmary, but Matt Valentine wasn't to be beaten yet, looking at Zell he punched him in between the eyes.

"Ahhh!" Zell screamed falling backwards on the ground. Matt sat down also and the crowd burst into applause and laughter.

Seifer laughed so hard she thought he was going to split in two. Rinoa, who had at first applauded the boy, stopped clapping when she heard the laughter.

"Seifer don't laugh. That was a sneaky thing for that boy to do, you shouldn't laugh."

Seifer wiped a tear from his eye.

"You were applauding him. The kid used trickery, so what? He passed the exam, didn't he? You'd have already realised what these kids are prepared to do to get in, if you could have been bothered to attend before."

Rinoa huffed and stood up.

"I'm going to see Zell," she declared before walking away.

Next up were Leigha Speltan and Dan Leaton. They both chose to fight with magic, and both failed to reflect the attacks. Seifer shook his head, it was the same every year, candidates applied but they were never of a high enough standard to be selected. Many more hopefuls had their dreams crushed, before it was the turn of the mysterious weird blonde candidate to step forward.

Seifer's interests were even raised higher, when the stranger declared he would use a Gunblade. Nobody chose those weapons anymore. Hi-tech guns and magic were all people were interested in today. Mainly because the level of fitness you needed to reach didn't have to be as high as someone with a more demanding weapon.

There were other Gunbladers in the Garden, it had become popular for a time, but had died away again as most things do. But instead of choosing someone from among their number, Seifer decided that he'd rather test this applicant himself.

"Your name?" Seifer asked, as he walked over.

"Texas Milton," the stranger replied calmly.

Seifer nodded, but some how he was disappointed. This name hadn't rung any bells.


	3. New Students

**Damned To Me**

**Chapter Three: New Students**

**A/N: **Thank you reviewers! I was really nervous about posting this fic again, but I'm so glad everyone is enjoying it.

Squall raised his Gunblade and waited for Seifer's first attack. Seifer swung at him with hardly any force at all. Squall blocked it easily, sending a surprised look shooting over Seifer's face. Squall realised that Seifer had expected him to be inexperienced, and had been planning on only using soft attacks.

Squall smiled, Seifer hadn't recognised him! He congratulated himself on the idea about dying his hair a dark blonde, without so dramatic a change it would have been impossible for him to even get this far. Another clever trick he had discovered was to use stage makeup over his scar, now it no longer showed, and without having to look at it everyday in the mirror, he no longer had to remember how it got there.

Seifer frowned; the kid had blocked the attack with hardly any effort at all. Seifer tried slicing harder but Squall just dodged it. Seifer wondered how someone could make it look so natural without any SeeD training. The final blow Squall blocked, and pushed Seifer to the ground with the force of his blade.

Seifer stared at him as Squall held out a hand to help him up. Seifer stood up without the offered help and wiped his nose roughly on his sleeve. He then placed his hands back on his blade. Squall stepped backwards as Seifer launched a full heavy blow towards him. Squall blocked it and hit Seifer hack just as hard. The friendly match had begun to turn into a full fight.

It ended when Squall managed to knock Seifer down again. This time Seifer made no effort to get back up.

"I think Mr Milton, you have just won yourself a place at Balamb Garden," Seifer said, taking the second offered hand and dusting himself off. "Tell me one thing?"

Squall nodded to show he was willing to answer any question Seifer might have for him.

"How did you learn that degree of skill without attending a Garden?" Seifer asked. Squall thought for a moment. He couldn't believe how well his disguise was working. Everything was going so well, and exactly according to plan.

"My Grandfather taught me," Squall replied, hoping it was a good enough answer for Seifer. He seemed to buy it and Squall relaxed. Seifer shook Squall's hand and lead him to the stand where Rinoa had returned with Zell.

Rinoa, who had been speaking to Zell, looked at them as they approached. She watched Seifer smile at her, but she couldn't manage a smile in return. She glanced at the stranger indifferently.

"Rinoa, honey, this is Mr Texas Milton. Make sure he gets to my office," Seifer commanded ignoring her sharp look. "Also, on your way back, stop by the infirmary and tell that young man, umm, Matt Valentine was it? Tell him he can begin training sessions with Zell."

Rinoa looked a Zell, she wondered whether he was pleased to be teaching someone who'd just punched him in the face. She supposed there were no hard feelings, after all, matt was in the infirmary, and Zell was still conscious. She nodded quickly to Seifer and climbed off the stand.

"This way," she directed, waiting for Squall to follow her out of the arena. "Do you have any luggage with you?" she asked as they left the training centre.

She didn't know the arrangements for these people, where they already lodged here? Did they only arrive today? Were their bags all locked up together in one room, or did they not bring anything with them? After all there wouldn't be much point bringing all your clothes if you were turned away.

"No, I'm staying at the Balamb Hotel. I can pick it all up later when everything's sorted," Squall informed her. Rinoa nodded, not really showing much of an interest, her mind was much too busy. They spent the next few minutes in silence, walking along with only their own thoughts in their ears.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but I didn't quite catch your first name," Rinoa said. They had stopped outside of the directory. "You can probably tell I'm not really Miss Attention right now. Just got back from a mission you see."

"My first name is Texas," Squall replied. He was finding it hard to lie to her, it also felt strange that she couldn't recognise him. "You're a SeeD?"

He had to admit that was surprising. He hadn't thought Rinoa would want to take a SeeD exam, especially after all they had been through, or more rather, all she had seen of SeeD.

"Oh sure, I think perhaps I always wanted a life full of danger. When Sq-," she paused for a second and looked away. "When the last Commander was here I didn't dare ask him if I could join, I think I was too afraid of what he'd say. We'd all been on a mission you see, I was the only non-SeeD, well the only one without training anyway, I guess I thought he'd seen too many of my defaults to make me a SeeD. But when Seifer, erm, Commander Almasy took over, he offered me the SeeD exam and I took it."

"Why did he offer it?"

"Because I was sad, very sad, and at the time it was something to take my mind off of things."

Squall's mind was drifting; he was only half listening to her. One part of his brain realised that she was talking about the time he had been taken away, but the other half was too focused on the now. He wondered whether she would leave him alone in Seifer's office.

The reason for this was that, he had some evidence against Seifer, but he didn't have enough to accuse him of any crime. He needed more time. More time to hack into Seifer's personal computer files, and search. The evidence he had scraped together only proved to him that it was Seifer that had sent him down for the crime, it didn't point at the real criminal.

The fake name trick was supposed to get him into Garden, from then on he would play at being the 'new student'. But in his free time he would be hacking computer files, to try and get some of his life back. Squall knew there had been e-mails sent to Seifer, as Seifer couldn't have gotten all his information together himself. He was smart, but not that smart. Someone was on the inside feeding him, and it was only Squall who seemed to want to know who it was.

Diary 

_Just returned from the briefing in Seifer's office. My fake identification papers were accepted without any questions. They must have looked really authentic. Ellone really did herself proud when she got a hold of those. If I didn't know any better, I could even believe I really was Texas Milton. Born in Esthar, father in construction, mother in telephone sales, three sisters… the information leaves no gaps unfilled. Even my insurance number checked out. _

_Now that everything went so smooth, I am wondering why it took so long for me to return. Have I really changed so much that no one can see who I really am? Even Rinoa, when she looked into my eyes saw nothing of who I used to be. _

_Rinoa. I hadn't expected to see her there. I think I have been fooling myself all these years thinking that she would have remained just as she was before. I suppose we have all changed. I pains me to see her and Quistis take orders from that liar Seifer. But a SeeD? How is this possible? How is this safe? When I left her, she could have made it past the exams, but to become a SeeD so soon is careless. Seifer you have been careless with people._

_I should never have stayed away so long. _

"Rinoa, where the hell have you been? I intercom'd your room an hour ago!" Seifer questioned, as Rinoa arrived in his office. Had he been paying attention he would have seen that she was out of breath.

"I had a lot of paperwork to sort out about that last mission," she explained. Seifer rolled his eyes.

"You know that I want you to bring me my lunch at one in the afternoon! How many times have you forgotten now? Ten is it?" He snapped. Rinoa slammed a paper bag on his desk, she didn't care if it split and went everywhere.

"You made me a SeeD!" Rinoa shouted. "Are you saying SeeD should just forget their paperwork because their boyfriends are hungry? You'd be even more irate if I failed to put my report on you desk Monday morning. And why can't you go and get your own lunch?"

"Because I'm busy!" Seifer said.

"Because you're lazy!" Rinoa replied turning around and heading for the door.

Seifer opened the bag and looked inside.

"You've brought me ham and mustard again, how many times do I have to tell you that I hate mustard?" he called after her as Rinoa shut the door to his shouting face.

After thinking a while he smacked the desk with his fist, and stared at the students out of his window. For one day he wished he had killer laser vision, he'd empty the ground below in a flash. Just as he was about to turn away, he saw the new blonde haired student walking with Quistis. She was handing him papers, one after the other. From high above they looked like a student schedule. Clearly Texas Milton had not made it to first class, or he would have received all this information already.

Or maybe it wasn't a schedule; maybe it was a secret correspondence? A wave of anger hit Seifer, he suddenly had a huge desire to call them both to his office and expel one and send the other back to work.

Seifer glared at them until he swallowed his anger and opened his e-mails.

"I should delete these," he said, as he searched through old e-mailed documents. "But then Rinoa's too stupid to work out how to access them anyway," he concluded, his laziness winning over him once more.

He sent a reply back to someone called Lindsay, telling he'd love to meet her at the cinema next week. After that was done, Seifer logged out of his computer, grabbed his jacket and headed to the cafeteria.


	4. You Never Told Me?

**Damned to me**

**Chapter Four: You never told me?**

"Your name was Quistis, right?" Squall asked as she followed him down yet another hallway. He guessed she twigged yet that he wanted to shake her off. She was just the same as he remembered, trying to get him to join extracurricular groups to boost his chances of making new friends.

"Yes, Quistis. I am your instructor; we would have been introduced before, had you bothered to turn up to class. Make sure you turn up next time, or I'm going to have to put you on the 'students who need extra supervision' list," she warned.

"I've heard that list used to be very exclusive, namely Squall Leonhart and Seifer Almasy," Squall replied, he was nearing the cafeteria now, surely she wouldn't want to sit with him in there. Not that he wouldn't want to sit with her, but he was aware Texas Milton wouldn't want to.

"How do know about that?" Quistis asked intrigued.

"Stories get out," Squall replied sounding bored. "Well thank you instructor Quistis, but I think I can find my own way now."

"Hey, hey hold it right there," Quistis warned. "I said I would show you around, you can't just brush me off like that! I'm you're instructor, if you were to get lost, it would reflect badly on me."

"I don't need you help," Squall said walking away as fast as he could. Quistis stood there opened mouthed, until deciding to follow him.

So, Squall thought, as he wandered into the cafeteria, Quistis was an instructor again? Seifer just had no imagination. That woman could run the garden blindfolded, he would have promoted her first chance he got.

He queued in a line with other students; all wondering what was the cheapest thing on the menu. As a trainee student he wasn't required to pay, and he was going to make the most of it. It had been a while now since he'd had the leisure to choose what he wished to eat. He chose a cheese sandwich and a coke.

Seeing that there was nowhere to sit alone, Squall wondered whether the Quad was still the quiet place it once was. Eating on the move, he went to find out. By the time he'd reached the entrance, he'd finished eating the sandwich and put the empty packet in the bin outside. Now that he wasn't eating anymore there wasn't really much point in going inside anymore, but he was curious.

Squall wondered if Selphie had ever managed to organise her Garden Festival, but thought it unlikely Seifer would allow something so 'stupid'. However now he wasn't so sure, as he spotted a small stage and music room. Although there were a few aesthetic changes, new benches, new rubbish bins, there were still the same numerous plants and trees in the surroundings.

He stopped mid track. Sitting on a bench not too far away from him was Rinoa. Her face looked troubled, and her eyes red as though she had been crying. Every so often she would wipe her cheeks with her sleeves in attempt to forget her tears. Squall thought about leaving. He didn't want to see her crying and know she probably wouldn't let him, a stranger, help. But all the same, he couldn't just leave her.

"Are you alright?" He asked sitting down next to her. She quickly brushed away her remaining tears and sniffed loudly. "Ok, stupid question. You're obviously not alright."

She smiled at him.

"Actually there really isn't anything the matter, at least nothing I can prove," she replied, but it came out kind of choked. "Just a little upset that's all. By the way, well done for getting into Garden! It's not an easy thing to do, but you did really well. I've seen lots of people come and go here, I hope you stay."

"Why's that?" Squall asked.

"People think they're ready for battles, but when they eventually come, they freeze. You have to be detached sometimes. Some people can't manage that. Someone important told me that," she said. Squall thought her words sounded like something he would say. "Oh, maybe you meant, why I hope _you_ should stay? Well you knocked Seifer over, he had that coming," she added trying to bite back a smile.

"My pleasure. Do you want some coke?" he asked.

Rinoa looked at the can.

"You haven't opened it yet," she said, implying that yes she did want some, but didn't like to be rude.

"Go on. You can have first sip," he said handing her the can. "Are you sure you're alright?" Squall asked again. Rinoa nodded, then slowly shook her head.

"No," she whispered. "It's my boyfriend, Seifer. He's been very pushy lately, telling me to do things I don't want to do and shouting at me a lot. I don't think he has been faithful while I was away either. I just don't know what to do."

Squall felt sick, his skin burn hot with anger. Rinoa was calling Seifer her boyfriend, as if she and Squall had never happened. Like it was just some sort of blip in the inevitable that was Seifer and Rinoa. But making it even worse was that not only was she no longer thinking of him, she was also unhappy anyway.

"Do you love him?" Squall asked, dreading the answer, hating himself for asking.

Rinoa shrugged.

"You either do or you don't?" Squall asked again.

"Sometimes, I really do try to, but I get so confused. You see, we used to be together before the sorceress war, but we were never very serious. Then it all changed when I met somebody else, I soon realised that what Seifer and me had wasn't real. You just know, you know? But this other person, he was, well…taken away," Rinoa answered, her head hung low. She stared at the floor as she spoke, as if by doing so she wouldn't have to deal with any consequences of her words.

"It was Squall Leonhart, I expect you've heard of him, I don't see how you couldn't have. After he was taken from me, I, well, I wasn't myself. Seifer and me just seemed to happen, and I never asked why. I suppose I should have questioned it at the beginning, but now it seems too late."

"Oh yeah I've heard of Squall Leonhart, who hasn't. In fact I know him," Squall said. What Rinoa had just said, he'd have to think of later. He had to remind himself that would it mean anything to Texas Milton? The answer was no, so he let it pass by, even though it hurt.

Rinoa looked at him as if she expected him to burst into laughter and shout, 'not!' It had happened before. People could be cruel, she had learnt that well enough. It might have been why she had found her way to Seifer, as he never mentioned Squall at all.

"Really?" She asked sceptical.

"Saw him the other day," Squall replied, observing the look of frustration in Rinoa's face.

"No! Was he well? What did he say to you? Where is he now?" Rinoa asked urgently, she dropped the coke and it spilt all over the floor. Squall looked a little startled by Rinoa's honest display of emotions. "Please, you have to tell me!"

"He's fine," he said to calm her. "He talked a lot about how he had had no visitors whilst in jail," Squall added, seeing the look of guilt flash over Rinoa's face.

"He wouldn't let me go," Rinoa said looking down at her hands.

"Who?" Squall asked.

"Seifer. He wouldn't let me go and see him. He said it would be too painful, that it would interfere with my studies. Since I became a SeeD, I have to take orders from Seifer. He threatened me too, saying that if I did go and see Squall he would throw me out of Garden. I'd have had nowhere to go. My father wouldn't have taken me in, especially after I ran all those campaigns to get Squall set free. I ran them for as long as they would let me, but in the end I realised it was futile," Rinoa told him, the more she spoke the quicker the tears returned.

Squall found he was speechless. He had had no idea Rinoa had run campaigns for him, they must have hidden that from his knowledge when he was inside.

"I don't even know why I started telling you all this. It's not as if I know you or anything. But, I guess, you just happened to be in the right place at the right time," Rinoa said, her bright smile seemed to make her tears disappear; she was trying to hide them.

Squall looked away. Was there a chance that she still had feelings for him? The way her eyes had filled with tears when speaking of him, made him hope for the best. He picked up the now empty can.

"You know, I think I know why Squall loves you the way he does," he said looking into her eyes.

"He loves me?" Rinoa whispered.

"Well, goodbye," he said before walking away. Rinoa watched him leave her, a confused expression on her face.

Diary 

_Another run in with Quistis this morning, eventually I did shake her off. I've only been here two days and already I've seen more her than I have of anything else! Just the same, just like when I was her student, always on my case about essays and books I should be reading. Maybe this time I should join some of her clubs; maybe that's what makes her leave you alone. Not that I'm trying to avoid her, ok, maybe I am, but she'd understand if she knew the truth. _

_Maybe I should have accepted her offer of a tour; seems a bit suspicious that I already know this place inside out, but too late now. I don't even know where I left my timetable, in the Quad I should think, I guess I'll have to beg her for another one, maybe a tour too, say I got lost and left it somewhere, she might believe that. _

Rinoa again. I know I shouldn't be speaking to her; it's only going to be a matter of time before she figures it all out. I wish I hadn't told her how I knew 'Squall Leonhart'. I know shouldn't have, but I just can't control myself when I near her. I just wanted to make her happy, in fact that's all I ever wanted. I should never have doubted her; thinking she'd forgotten me, when all the time she had been campaigning for my release. Maybe there are other things I don't know of too. I used to think not much could happen in two years. But I was so very wrong.

Rinoa kicked open the door with her foot and barged her way inside. Seifer seemed to be in the middle of doing his disciplinary thing, two students were in front of him, one girl was crying, the other looked like she had just been hit in the face.

"Seifer I need to talk to you," Rinoa shouted over the sobs of the girl.

The students looked at her like she was their guardian angel and both headed for the door. Rinoa's appearance had probably prevented them from being sent home on suspension. They made their escape fast and closed the door behind them.

"Of course" Seifer said grinning, showing her a chair by his desk. He was expecting an apology for earlier, and was already grinning. "Although I'd appreciate it if you treated my doors with a little more respect."

"Oh, your doors are they? Funny how you've never done a thing to earn them! Tell me, have you ever been on a mission that actually earned this Garden some money? No, you haven't, so they're not your doors!"

"What do want?" Seifer asked, bored already. Rinoa's angry tantrums were starting to get old fast.

"How come you never told me Squall was out of jail?" she asked, her body was shaking now, mostly from anger, some part fear. Seifer stopped smiling, his face now holding a sort of panicked alarm.

"Rinoa, honey, he's been out for a year," Seifer replied, seeing the anger build up in Rinoa's eyes.

"What?" Rinoa shouted. Her face feeling the heat of her anger, and her nails digging into her palms making little half moons on her skin.

"He has been out for a year Rinoa, or there abouts. Now if you would excuse me I have a lot of things I have to do," Seifer said, walking past Rinoa and heading for the door. He held it open for her to leave.

"You kept this from me!" Rinoa screamed. "He has been out for one whole year and you didn't tell me? You knew how important that would be to me! And still you didn't think to tell me? I suppose everyone else knew?"

Seifer just shrugged.

"Well that's it. Me and you are over!" she shouted, walking out of the door and slamming it behind her.

* * *

A/N: Thank you reviewers! There is now a picture up of a blonde Squall, which you can find through the links in my profile page, if you want to see my take on what I think he would look like. 


	5. To Dinner?

**Damned to me**

**Chapter Five: To Dinner?**

Rinoa ran through the Garden hallway towards her bedroom. She ignored every odd glance that she received, as she was used to getting them anyway, her history within Garden wasn't very clean. She'd been involved in every upheaval they'd had, from the sorceress battle, to Squall going away, to Seifer. If anything, people half expected her to act weird. Once there, she fell onto her bed and cried into the sheets.

"How could he?" she sobbed. "I can't believe he never told me!"

She couldn't control her tears; they kept coming over her in waves of pure sadness. The way she was feeling made her believe she couldn't suffer any worse at the end of the world. After a while she sensed there was someone hovering outside her bedroom door. She wasn't surprised when there was a knock.

"Who's there?" she asked.

There was a pause.

"It's Selphie, well it _was_ Zell too, but he's chickened out and left me here alone."

Rinoa hit a button and the door opened.

"Zell called on me, we we're going to the library, but we passed your room and heard you were upset," Selphie explained. Rinoa wondered for a moment if Seifer had sent her, but then Selphie's room was only up the hall and it was a plausible story, they would have had to pass by.

"I broke up with Seifer," Rinoa replied before Selphie could ask. Selphie stepped inside the room and shut the door. She hadn't been expecting to be told what the matter was, just to give some chipper vibes. She felt humbled.

"Maybe it's for the best. I mean you didn't really love him did you? Well, I mean, I didn't think you did…" Selphie said, trying to comfort her friend by putting her arm around her shoulders, but at the same time wondering whether she was making it worse. Rinoa sniffed.

"No I don't think I did," she replied, sighing and looking at her hands. "Selphie did you know that Squall got realised from jail?" Rinoa asked after a long silence. Selphie looked down at the floor.

"Yes" she said quietly. Rinoa didn't look very surprised; in fact she looked disappointed. "I'm so sorry Rinoa, Seifer ordered us not to tell you. We couldn't disobey him."

"We? You mean everyone knew?" Rinoa asked, not sure whether she was angry or not. "Selphie, please tell me. This is important to me."

"Yes, everyone knew. Me, Quistis, Zell, even Irvine! I'm so sorry Rinoa," Selphie apologised again. "Seifer said you were best not knowing, that if you did you'd disappear looking for him. He said you would be safer here with us, and we couldn't disobey him. He's the commander Rin!"

Rinoa looked away. It was all true, as SeeD they were forced to follow Seifer's rule, and whilst most of the time he was on the right track, every now and then he abused his power. There was nothing in Rinoa's mind that could have justified him from keeping that knowledge from her.

"I just wish he had come back," Rinoa whispered, tears forming in her eyes once again. "I wish I could see him again. He wouldn't even have to say anything, just seeing him would be enough."

"Rinoa, after what he did. Do you really think he would show his face around here ever again?" Selphie asked. "Besides, he was banned from returning."

Rinoa felt a chill over her skin, it rare that they ever talked about Squall, they all seemed to avoid it, as if afraid of upsetting each other. It was the first time Rinoa had ever heard Selphie say anything to assure herself of his guilt, and Rinoa sat stunned.

"You really believe he did it don't you? Selphie he was your friend!" Rinoa exclaimed. "He took a chance on all of us! He didn't have to involve us in that last battle, but he did because he trusted us, and he must have believed we trusted him too."

"Regardless of whether I thought he was my friend, the evidence points against him Rin," Selphie explained, standing up to leave. "Besides that was along time ago. There's nothing to be done about it now."

"But he would never do something like that! How could you doubt him?" Rinoa asked, feeling the sadness of her tears again.

Selphie shrugged.

"Sometimes there's more to people than meets the eye. We didn't know what was going on in that strange mind of his. If he wanted to kill all those people, then he was very capable of it," Selphie explained, walking to the door. "We all changed after that last battle, and something must have happened in his head to make him do that. We were all suffering; I guess we were all too worried about our own problems to notice his. But listen Rinoa, you're upset, you'll make it up with Seifer, and you'll feel better tomorrow."

After Selphie's footsteps could no longer be heard outside, Rinoa lay down on her bed. She tried her hardest to remember what had happened that night. Some of it was a blur, some of it all too clear. It ran before her eyes before she fell into a restless sleep.

**(Flashback)**

"_Squall where are we going?" Rinoa had asked as Squall led her down the hallway. _

"_You'll see!" Squall replied. _

_Rinoa laughed and followed him obediently. Soon, fast and happy music could be heard from the ballroom. Suddenly Rinoa's mind put two and two together. This was unexpected, they had already spent the day together at the beach, and she had assumed that had been all he had planned for her birthday._

"_Oh Squall you didn't!" Rinoa exclaimed in a hushed voice. Her eyes danced as pushed open the double doors. _

"_Happy Birthday Rinoa!" he said, as the doors opened to her party. _

_Instantly she was hit by shouts of 'SURPISE!' Rinoa had laughed from the moment she'd arrived, to the moment Selphie placed flowers around her neck. She was then forced to dance with Irvine, then Zell, never once letting her smile fall. But when the dancing became less enthusiastic and everyone tired themselves out, there was no sign of Squall. _

_Sneaking out of the party, Rinoa heard voices coming from around the corner._

"_Squall what's going on?" she asked, looking at Squall then the two burly looking men surrounding him._

"_I'm afraid Miss, that this young man has got himself into a lot of trouble," one of the men answered her. Rinoa looked at him then at Squall questioningly. "He will be leaving with us now," the man said, pushing past Rinoa. The other forced Squall in front of him and they marched him forward. Rinoa noticed Squall was in handcuffs. _

"_Hey, I demand to know what is going on!" Rinoa shouted. The men looked around annoyed. "It's my birthday, you can't just take him!"_

"_Rin, just go enjoy the party. Everything is ok," Squall said, refusing to look her in the eye. _

_Rinoa nodded, now she sensed something was terribly wrong. She watched the men lead Squall away. Standing there alone and cold she remembered the party, but she refused to join it again. Something was wrong, and it was something she didn't understand. _

_But she understood it fully in the morning, and it seemed everyone else did too._

"Rinoa!"

Rinoa struggled up, her eyes sleepy. She couldn't remember what she had been dreaming about, and decided it was probably for the best; she never dreamt anything nice anymore.

"Rinoa you're gonna be late!" someone shouted through the door. They were banging their hand on it now, and there was only one person she knew that ever did that.

Rinoa looked over at her clock, it was almost midday. She'd been asleep all morning. The voice on the other side of her door was getting more agitated.

"Alright, alright, I'm up, I'm up! Zell, calm down, you're giving me a headache!" she shouted back. The poundings on the door stopped abruptly.

Rinoa smoothed her hair out and opened the door. Zell gave her a funny look.

"I know, I know I'm going to be late, and I know, I look like I just…"

"Rinoa, I have some news," Zell informed her.

Rinoa looked interested, but then reminded herself that it wouldn't be anything ground breaking. Zell thought everything was great news. Rinoa remembered once that he'd told everyone something he'd heard on the TV, like it was the greatest thing ever, when the story had been running for weeks.

"Well?" Rinoa prompted.

"Well I have some good and some bad news," Zell said.

"Let me guess, Aliens are coming to kill us, but the good news is they wont make a mess?" Rinoa asked.

Zell just stared at her, clearly not knowing what to make of that. Selphie had already warned him that Rinoa wasn't herself at the moment, and for a second he thought she had gone mad.

"Just a wild shot in the dark. Well spill it then, my day can't get any worse than it already is."

"Well, I guess I should just say it before someone else does," he said nervously.

There was a long pause, and Zell watched for and indication to go on.

"I suppose I should just come out with it," he began, but stopped again.

"Zell?" Rinoa prompted, all this stalling was making her nervous.

"You promise you won't hate me for telling? Because I can get Selphie to say if you will!" he stuttered. Rinoa was still waiting. "It's Seifer. He's with Quistis," he mumbled finally, looking at her though a squint in case she exploded.

Rinoa considered the news for a moment then shrugged.

"No surprise there then," Rinoa said. "Everyone must have seen that coming."

"Well, not me, I think he's nuts. You're not mad? Selphie thought you would be," he asked carefully, or about as tactfully as he could manage.

"No. I have to get ready, I can't go out looking like this."

Zell stood outside the bathroom as Rinoa arranged her hair. He could hear her brushing her teeth.

"Do you want to hear something good now?" Zell asked though the door. Rinoa stopped brushing and replied that she did. "Well our class is being merged with the new students!"

Rinoa emerged from the bathroom with her eyebrows raised, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand to rid herself of any stray toothpaste.

"That's a good thing?" she asked as she hunted for her shoes. Zell tried to help her look, but couldn't understand why the black boots she was looking for were not the boots he'd found.

"Yeah! Don't you think it's good that we can share our knowledge and skills with less educated pupils?" Zell asked. "Commander Squall said that's what we're suppose to do. I never forgot that."

"He's not dead you know, you don't have to speak of him like he's not here anymore," Rinoa said. Sometimes she had to remind herself that Squall hadn't died. People became quiet if he was mentioned, as if something bad would happen to them if they talked about him.

"I know," Zell said, looking at the floor. "Lets get to class."

The classroom was packed, students and SeeD's all in together. Rinoa thought it was crazy, how could they possibly find something to study that would be beneficial to all of them? They couldn't talk about advanced studies, as none of the new students would understand.

The room was a real mixture of ages, mostly teens, some adults, and some children. Rinoa looked round the classroom, the sight was overwhelming, so many people, and all were learning the best ways to kill things.

"Good afternoon Students," Quistis beamed at them all, she carefully avoided Rinoa's eye, afraid of what she might see there.

"Stupid bitch," Rinoa snarled at the back of the room. She hadn't even realised she had spoken until Zell poked her ribs to keep her quiet. She gasped, had she said that out loud? Luckily however, nobody had heard her.

"Today we will learn about the moon," Quistis said turning to the board.

"Ooh that will be fun!" Rinoa said sarcastically, she was attracting more attention now. People were starting to giggle in the back row, wondering whether she was doing it for a joke, or if she was just a troublemaker. Quistis looked annoyed.

"You will be staying behind if you cannot concentrate!" she shouted over everyone's heads to the back.

The giggling stopped straight away, but Rinoa rolled her eyes.

"Now the moon is actually home to millions of different types of monsters," Quistis continued facing the board once again.

"Oooh fascinating, I must take a note!"

This time Rinoa's comment was too loud.

"Rinoa, if you have a problem. I will ask you to wait outside" Quistis warned. Rinoa just stared at her, until she turned back to her board again.

Quistis knew she couldn't do much; Rinoa was a SeeD, not a student. However she could report her to Seifer, but then that would make her seem cowardly. She hadn't meant to hurt Rinoa, she just happened to be the person in the way of her and Seifer. It could have been anyone.

Rinoa didn't seem to be suffering too much, she had come to class, probably simply to mock her, but she had come nonetheless. Things would work out one day; it was just something they all had to get through.

Something was flashing on Rinoa's computer screen. Looking around to see if she was being watched, Rinoa clicked the open button. It was an instant message from computer number 12. Rinoa looked for number 12, but they were hidden behind someone else at the front. Rinoa read the message.

'_How are you?' _

Rinoa considered leaving it, but was too intrigued. It wasn't as if she was going to miss anything in this class. So trying to see who it was one last time, typed back:

'_I'm fine. Why?'_

The other replied fast:

'_I heard about you and Seifer.'_

Rinoa suddenly became annoyed that this person couldn't mind their own business.

'_Who are you?'_

'_Texas Milton'_

Rinoa blushed.

'_I'm sorry; I didn't know it was you. I'm fine.'_

'_That's good.'_

'_There's someone in the way. I can't see your desk.'_

Rinoa stared at the screen, wondering what to say next when another message flashed up. She blinked.

'_You busy tonight?'_

Rinoa started at it for a while until finally replying.

'_No, why? Want help with your homework?_'

'_I think I can handle monsters on the moon. Want to get something to eat?'_

'_Are you asking me out to dinner?'_

'_Yes'_

Rinoa blushed. She looked around to see what everyone was doing. Zell was preoccupied showing a new student his T-Board magazine. She felt it safe to reply.

'_Alright'_

The messages stopped for a moment as Quistis made some students on the front row answer some questions. Quistis then wanted a volunteer to speak on the Lunar Cry, Zell's hand shot up immediately.

'_So can I meet you at 8? What's your dorm number?'_

Rinoa forgot for a moment that she was waiting for a message, and so she received it with some surprise. She replied quickly before anyone saw.

'_8's good. My dorm is 37'_

There were no more messages. Rinoa leant back in her chair with a smile.

Eight o'clock came and there was a knock at Rinoa's door. No one would believe upon seeing her that Rinoa Heartilly had spent the last hour panicking over what to wear. Checking herself once more in the mirror and adjusting the straps on her dark green dress, she decided it would have to do, and opened the door.

"Hi" she said shyly.

"Hungry?" he asked, reaching for her hand.

"I'm starving. I skipped lunch so that I could have pudding!" Rinoa replied, she blushed when he smiled. Blushing-- she seemed to do a lot of that when she was in his presence. "I know I should eat three meals a day, but, three meals a day doesn't include puddings. I really like your shirt. It's a cute colour!"

She changed the subject so fast the Squall didn't even realize straight away.

"They should sort that pudding issue out, sounds confusing. You like blue then?"

"Very much so, especially on you!" she said, trying to keep the heat out of her cheeks "Matches your eyes."

She looked deep into them, as though she was remembering something. They looked so familiar…

"Squall?"

Squall looked at her worried, he panicked. She'd discovered who he was! He didn't have to lie anymore; they could keep it as their secret! But she however mistook it for him telling her she was wrong.

"Sorry," she said, "Maybe I shouldn't do this."

Squall's heart sank.

"Rinoa it's only dinner, it doesn't have to mean anything unless you want it to. Ok?" he assured her, squeezing her hand.

Rinoa nodded.

"You're much too kind to me," she replied.

Squall shook his head.

"No, no, you deserve it Angel," he said smiling "Come on."

'Angel?' There was only one person who called her that, and it wasn't Texas Milton. All night long Rinoa studied him, watching the way he moved. Wondering maybe, just maybe could it possibly be Squall? It looked just like him, and yet didn't look anything like. Was she seeing things because he wanted too? Or was she being blind. She just didn't know. In the end she decided she was thinking too much, and made sure she put it to the back of her mind for the rest of the evening.

* * *

**A/N**: Thank you to everyone reading. I'm still getting the hang of the whole 'reply' feature in the review section, so I appologise if I failed to reply to anybody's questions, or if I replied to anyone more than once. 


	6. Chapter 6A: Date

**Author's Note:** _First off, thank you to everyone who's reading! And secondly to explain this chapter. I shall be referring the Squall as Squall, but Rinoa will be referring to him as Texas. Hopefully this wont be too confusing! This chapter was not in the original posting of the fic. Thank you everyone for the reviews!_

**Chapter Six Part A: Date **

Rinoa waited nervously at the table, watching her date order at the bar, collect the drinks and rejoin her.

"Perhaps we should have gone somewhere else," Squall said placing Rinoa's lemonade in front of her. "Are you sure that's all you want to drink?"

"Lemonade's fine, I think I've been craving it all day, nothing else will do," Rinoa said. "Anyway, this place is nice. Ok, it's a bit loud, but at least there's lots of people to watch."

They were eating in a pub, that had recently upgraded part of it's building to serve food. There were other couples eating also, so they didn't feel awkward. And like all good pubs, the regulars were standing at the bar as if they went there every night, and they probably did.

Rinoa took the pause in the conversation to sip her drink. She hated it when there were pauses in conversations, and they never failed to feel the worse than when on a date. Unable to think of something to ask him, Rinoa took another sip.

"Gosh, that is really fizzy!" she said. "Seriously, stop worrying, I like it here. It's cosy, and the chairs are comfortable."

"Who said I was worrying?" Squall asked.

Rinoa shrugged.

"I don't know, I just thought I could see it on your face, that's all," she replied. Now she wasn't so sure. "So, where did you say you were from?"

"My father lives in Galbadia. Me and my mother moved around a lot," Squall lied, making things up on the spot. He hoped by keeping it simple, Rinoa would create her own ideas in her mind.

Rinoa nodded, as if she understood not to ask any more questions about his past. The way he was said he'd 'moved around' made her think that perhaps his past wasn't too happy.

"So, how did you end up here?" Rinoa asked changing the subject.

"I felt it was time to come back," Squall said. That had slipped out, he hadn't meant to say anything of the sort, but Rinoa seemed not to pay it any heed.

"Oh, you've been here before then?" she asked.

Maybe she thought he'd visited on holiday, many people did, Balamb was a popular place for holiday makers. Or maybe his comment about moving homes with his mother covered most options.

"It feels like a lifetime ago. What about you? Why are you here?"

"Where else could I go? Anyway, I've made a life here, it's not a very exciting one, this date excluded of course," Rinoa said smiling. "But I don't see myself anywhere else. Sometimes I feel I'm just waiting. Do you ever get that feeling?"

"You have no idea."

"Yeah. But I don't really know what for, at least, not for anything realistic anyway."

"Tell me," Squall prompted.

It sounded like Rinoa really needed to talk to someone, but he wasn't sure he was the person she wanted. After all, they had only just met in her eyes, and he wouldn't blame her for keeping her secrets to herself.

"Just dreams," Rinoa said looking away wistfully. "Now, where is that food? I'm starving!"

The stark change in conversation told Squall that Rinoa no longer wanted to talk about such deep things. He did his best to put it out for his mind and speak about more trivial things. The latest battle equipment, and teaching methods. Squall quickly realised Rinoa had learned a lot about the militant life since he had been away. Being a SeeD suited her, she sounded confident when she spoke of her pinwheels and magic, but she didn't sound enthusiastic about any of it.

"I have a feeling you would rather leave Garden and live another life," Squall ventured. It was a bold statement, for Texas who knew nothing about her, and for Squall, who had missed so much.

"It's my life, I can't complain about it. I told you already I have nowhere else to go," Rinoa replied trying to turn the conversation away again.

"That isn't an answer."

Rinoa sighed.

"No, I'd love to leave. I want to travel without carrying weapons. I want to walk into a town without everyone shutting their doors on me. But I told you I'm waiting for something, so until it comes, I shall stay where it can find me," Rinoa said sipping her drink.

Squall decided to stop asking. He'd heard enough to know that Rinoa was still suffering from him going away. He wished that he could simply tell her, and also wished that she would just look past his disguise. But something remained firm in his resolve that Rinoa should remain ignorant. Until he had found what it was that he had come back looking for, he wouldn't put her in any danger.

The food arrived and the conversation ebbed into a pattern of politely asked general questions, and comments on the food. Finally the date wound to an end, Squall found there was nothing left for him to ask. He had the feeling Rinoa had enjoyed herself, but for a 'first date' it was time to call it an end.

Back at the Garden once more, Squall walked Rinoa to her dorm room and waited whilst she found her key in her bag.

"Ha, got it," she said holding the keys. "Thanks for the date, I really needed to get out of here, so thanks."

"Don't mention it," Squall said.

He didn't want Rinoa to worry about anything she had said that evening, but she was already blushing.

"I guess, I'll see you around then," she said unlocking her door. "Bye."

She smiled at him before shutting the door.


	7. Chapter 6B: The hacking

**Damned to me**

**Chapter Six: The hacking**

**Twenty Die In Terrorist Bomb Attack**

_Yesterday evening at approximately 6:45pm, the peace of the city was shattered when a bomb exploded inside Deling City's 'Central Restaurant.' The explosion shook the ground for a twenty-mile radius, rendering an estimated twenty people dead, and many people severely injured. The exact toll of the dead is still yet to be confirmed, as reports of missing people are continually pouring in._

'_Central Restaurant' is widely known to be an important meeting venue for all the influential leaders of the world, and as expected, there had been a scheduled meeting that very evening. We believe that the bomb exploded earlier than it was intended to and so, and as a result, only half of the leaders were caught in its destruction. _

_We can inform the public that two leaders were among the dead, and seven are said to be in a stable situations in hospital. The missing members of the meeting included President Loire, Commander Leonhart, and Prime Minster Pedka, all claiming to have been stuck in traffic. _

_Investigations have been launched to find the people responsible for this cowardly crime, and police say they have some strong leads to follow. _

Rinoa sighed as she folded away the newspaper cutting. She placed it in a box under her bed, and after gazing at the box for sometime, she took out the only pictures she owned. She looked through them all carefully, but selected only one. It was slightly crumpled around the edges, a testament to how many times it had been held, but it still showed her what she wanted to see.

There, in the centre of the ballroom, surrounded by students and dancers was Squall, Zell and Selphie. It had been taken on the night of their graduation ball. It looked as though Zell's hair was making up for the fact that he was much shorter than Squall.

The expression on their faces was totally natural, not one of them realised that the photo was being taken. Squall in the middle looking like he didn't know why he was there, Selphie pointing at Zell accusingly, and Zell ready to shout back. It might have not been the best-composed picture, but all the same, it was the only one she had.

"Squall," she said sadly. "Where are you?"

Squall sneaked into Seifer's office. It was empty and spookily quiet. Sneaking about Garden was scarily easy, and he knew the security was nothing like it had been. Seifer thought too much of his own strength to consider t5hat others might be in need of protecting. There seemed to be a blind eye turned to most of the unruly activities in the garden, as long as they earned money and completed missions. People trained in the art of violence, allowed to do whatever they liked was dangerous; but today it was working in Squall's advantage.

Squall placed something down on the floor by the door; it measured vibrations in the floor, sounding an alarm if someone was outside the room, it was small and not easily identifiable. Squall switched on the hands-free phone, put the speaker in his ear and flicked down the mouthpiece. He whispered to the person on the other end of the phone.

"Right I'm in."

The person on the other line took a while to respond. But finally the small gadget made a sound similar to a buzzing.

"Motion detector in place?"

Squall nodded, then remembered he was on the phone and answered yes.

"I am going to e-mail everything I find to you Ell. You can then read through it all and save me some time. Send it to my dorm pc when you're finished."

Squall took a seat and switched on the computer and then the screen. Reaching around the side he turned the sound off, just in time to miss the Balamb Garden traditional start-up theme for PC's.

Squall entered the username: Seifer Almasy. The Headmaster's password was the first security page that he came across. Since this was the Headmaster's computer, and the headmaster was no longer here, Squall assumed that the password would be the same. He entered Cid's password.

**I.M.S.I.N.G.I.N.G.I.N.T.H.E.R.A.I.N**

This took Squall to Headmaster Cid's private part of the computer. The files on the desktop were Seifer's handiwork, all renamed and all refilled with questionable content. The links at the top were files for students, information, league tables, qualifications. The next files were Balamb Garden mission files. Finally the last were Seifer's own private files.

Squall opened Seifer's 'favourites' page of his internet browser. Squall met with:

_Motorbike World_

_Rally Cars Extreme Driving_

_Web Chat: Meet Hot Chicks_

_Movies for Blokes_

_Music Download Chart_

_Drinking In Timber_

Squall found nothing suspicious; the links looked like relatively normal things for someone to have on their favourites. Slightly disappointed, but not really expecting to find anything yet, Squall clicked about for Seifer's email account.

There was a small envelope symbol on the bar at the bottom of the desktop, and Squall expanded the symbol to reveal a email account. The email address and password had been remembered by the computer, and so where already filled in. Idiot, Squall thought as he logged in. This was what Squall had been banking on when he'd chosen to use Seifer's computer over all the others in Garden.

"I'm in Seifer's email account, I'm going to forward everything to you, get ready," Squall said, as he clicked the 'mail' button.

**You have 5 new messages. 100 Read Messages. 67 Messages in your Junk Folder.**

Squall smiled, five new emails? Something that Seifer hadn't managed to get to yet. Squall opened the newest one from Quistis.

_Seifer, You'll need to reschedule Rinoa's classes, I can't be in the same room as that girl. She keeps interrupting my lessons and disturbing other students. Oh, and can we make it Friday night instead? -- Quistis_

**Next**

_Oi, Seifer, you never returned my calls! Where are you man? Are we going out on Saturday night or what? Call me later. – The guy you call your friend but never return calls to / aka/ Robbs_

**Next**

_Hey, you have to have a look at this: Htp:Dancingpresidentofgalbadia.bal.mb –Robbs_

**Next**

_Commander, Please find attached copies of all new student files – XU_

**Next**

_Mr Almasy, there is a message waiting for you at 'Meet Hot Chicks' please log-in to read message._

Squall opened the main system of the computer and started copying everything that had been sent to the office in the last 3 years. Which was an awful lot.

"Sis there's too much I cant get it all!" Squall said panicking.

"Just get anything that looks suspicious, especially anything sent just before the attack. I can't believe Seifer didn't clear his e-mails properly, what an idiot!"

Squall copied everything Ellone said he should and sent them to her computer. Just as Squall thought things were going well, a buzzer sounded in his ear.

"Sis someone is coming, I've got to go!" Squall whispered, hastily closing down the computer and heading for one of the store cupboards to his side. "It's Seifer, stay on the line Ell," Squall said into his mouthpiece while looking out from a crack in the cupboard door.

Seifer stomped into the room followed quickly by Quistis.

"I can't believe they lost him!" Seifer said through gritted teeth, Quistis placed her hands on Seifer's shoulders.

"What's wrong?" She asked softly, Squall listened in interest. Seifer smacked her hands away and walked to his desk.

"When Squall was sent down, I had some people watch him. After he was released I had the very same people follow his movements and report back to me with the information of his whereabouts. I received a phone call from those people a few minutes ago. It seems they lost track of Squall about two months ago and didn't think to tell me," Seifer said walking to his window, he opened the blinds and looked outside at the fields they were passing. Quistis hung back from him. "This means that that bastard is out there somewhere. Even worse he could be in Garden!"

Quistis looked at him, his mood was worrying her. She had never been afraid of Seifer, but his present state was unpredictable. He wasn't speaking to her like he usually did, his tone was harsh, and thoughts always distracted.

"At least I got rid of Rinoa, she was forever whining about something," Seifer said, before doing a cruel impression of Rinoa. "Seifer, you didn't meet me for lunch! Why didn't you tell me Squall was out of jail? I can't find my dog!"

Quistis watched him warily, this wasn't like him, something had snapped somewhere, and she was concerned about the state of his mind. Garden was always on her mind, her duty was to defend it, and at the moment Seifer appeared to be a threat.

"Quistis, I want a full report of every student who has been selected for a place a Garden, and I want it on my desk in a hour," he ordered turning his back to her. His formal tone left no room for negotiations, and Quistis thought it wise to leave, and deal with the situation later.

Eventually Seifer left his office also, giving Squall the opportunity to climb out of his hiding place.

"Ell, Ell you there?" he asked.

"I'm still here."

"Did you hear what they said?" he asked as he left the office.

"Yes, " Ellone replied. "Were there any people that seemed to be around you a lot in the past year? People you kept running into?"

Squall thought for a while.

"I can't think of anybody. I have to go."

Back in his dorm, Squall opened his in-box. He had sent all the e-mails to Ellone but had also sent a copy to his own private address just in case the ones to Ellone had failed to send.

**You have received a message from Ellone182 **

Squall clicked the open button and read the message.

_Hello Squall, the files you sent me have been forwarded as attachments._

Squall clicked the attachment button, and read the first one. There were 97 sent by Ellone; he could tell that he would be here for a long time.

Two hours later Squall decided to take a break, he had looked through 30 of the e-mails so far, and there wasn't anything to give him any clues. Walking out of his room, Squall came face to face with a poster. It displayed a advertisement for a 'Tournament' held in the Garden for all SeeD's and students, tomorrow. Anyone could enter. Squall stared at it for a moment, if he entered, there could be chance Seifer would fight too.


	8. If DNA Matches

**A/N:** Thank you to all of you who reviewed! It's still surprising me how many of you remember this from the first time around. This chapter had a major re-write, and is actually two chapters mashed together. Don't worry, the story is more or less the same, I've just edited out bits that really didn't need to be there; hopefully making this a much smoother read.

**Chapter Seven: If DNA Matches **

Squall watched as one after another, the students of Balamb Garden got knocked out of the tournament. There were other first years who had entered, but in this stage of the tornament, he was the only one of them left. Seifer was competing also, never one for missing a chance to show off; he had gotten himself into round 10 with no problems.

"Seifer moves to round 11!" said the voice using the microphone.

Squall watched Seifer grin as the spectators applauded him, and then glanced at his watch. Not being due back in the arena for another twenty minutes, Squall looked around to see if he could spot Rinoa. He wouldn't have blamed her for staying away, after all, the day was turning out to be a day of celebrating Seifer's fighting skills.

However, there she was, standing by the refreshments stall and looking unmistakably bored. Squall slowly made his way towards her, noticing her steady rise of colour as she noticed him walking closer.

"Hi," she greeted shyly, giving him a embarrassed smile.

"Hi," Squall replied, trying to sound confident so that she would stop feeling nervous.

It didn't seem to work, as Rinoa say anything further. Unable to think of anything to say himself, he could almost hear Rinoa's mind working furiously, desperately searching for a topic.

"So, round 10? I've never seen a first year do so well, not that I ever really watch," Rinoa said.

"Not a fan then?"

"Of cheering on people that are beating each other up? No not really. I think we shouldn't make sport of our skills."

Squall didn't reply. She was right, being SeeD shouldn't be a spectator sport, it was privilege, and it was also dangerous. Making it a game took away the discipline.

"Not that I'm saying I think it's wrong that you entered; I just think people shouldn't be chasing glory all the time," Rinoa added. She didn't want to think that she had just created an atmosphere.

"Looking at anyone in particular whilst thinking that?" Squall asked.

Rinoa shook her head.

"That obvious? Seifer made up this tournament so that he could prove to everyone else here that he's the best. To give him is due, he is."

Squall watched Seifer polish his gun-blade until it was shining. So no one dared to stand up to Seifer? Garden was changing for the worst everyday, it was clear that it was being run by a dictator, not a commander looking out for his students wellbeing.

"Round Eleven. All students competing in round eleven to gather in the arena immediately," spoke the announcer.

Squall looked at Rinoa, and she smiled at him and nodded for him to take his place.

"Don't mind what I said, I was just thinking aloud. I hope you do well," she said.

Squall thanked her and walked away.

To advance to round 11, competitors had to form a team consisting of three members. Two-second year students joined Squall and readied their weapons. The dark haired girl on Squall's left smiled at him and her other male partner as they walked out to face the other team. On the way they sized each other up on the way, contemplating each other's weapons and psychical strength.

"FIRE!" the girl from the other team shouted.

The attack missed, but left Squall frowning; she hadn't even waited to see if they were ready. Clearly the rules to this competition became more lax the further you progressed. He waited for the girl to be penalised, but nothing happened. But the girl on his team wasn't waiting around.

"BLIZZARD!" she shouted. "My name is Sara by the way," she informed her team mates as she resumed her place next to Squall.

"Texas," Squall replied, dodging another fire attack.

The attacks continued until Sara thought it was time for hand-to-hand combat, as the magic attacks were clearly not getting them anywhere. Being the 'first year' in the group, Squall knew he had to take a backseat in this fight and be guided by his team. But the communication from the other two was short in coming, neither seemed confident enough to take the lead, and Squall saw them loosing their advantage with every passing second.

"Texas, look out!" Sara screamed.

Squall raised his arm to cover his face, but it was too late. A pinwheel hit Squall backwards, cutting a line across his arm and then ripping across his side. As he lay on the ground, he heard someone cast a 'sleep' spell over him, and he closed his eyes with his last thought being that the boy hadn't covered him.

"What are you doing Seifer? Letting first years compete?" Dr Kadowaki asked into the telephone. "No, he's not going to die, but that is hardly the point here. Being a new student I have barely any medical notes for him, this is very irresponsible of you."

Squall listened to once side of the conversation from where he was lying. He knew he was in trouble being in the infirmary, if Dr Kadowaki had taken a sample of his blood, then it would bring up all the files on Squall Leonhart, and if that happened, then his cover would be blown.

He had a feeling he was already too late, that the sample of his blood could be already buzzing through the computer right now. Sitting up, Squall looked around for a way of leaving without the doctor noticing. The only way out he could see was through the window.

Standing up, he tested moving about. The wound on side wasn't deep, and the doctor had already bandaged him up. Knowing that he'd had far worse injured in the past, he opened the window, stood on the bed, and then climbed out. Running on borrowed time, Squall headed to his dorm. There were emails he had to check.

**

* * *

You have 105 new messages. **

Squall stared at this for a while.

105 was more than he expected. He searched the word 'Ellone' and found that 50 of the e-mail's were from her. He then copied all of these into a separate file, and then discovered that 52 were from Seifer's computer, the copy he had sent to himself in case Ellone's emails failed to send.

Squall stared at the screen for some time. He was trying to work out why Ellone's emails didn't tally up with the originals. Had she forgot to send some of them? Or had she condensed some down? Maybe if he read through them he might be able to figure out what she had done, but he didn't have the time.

But something wasn't right. He pulled out his mobile and began calling Ellone. There was pause, then the dialling tone, and finally the answer phone took over. Squall hung up. He didn't want to leave a message. He didn't wan to leave any message that might connect Ellone to what he was trying to do.

Knowing that at any minute his door might open and Seifer walk in, Squall clicked through the emails until his eyes hit upon something he thought he would never see.

Seifer Almasy,

We have confirmed that the world leaders are indeed meeting at the Deling Central restaurant at approximately 6:45pm on Thursday 12th December. The bomb should be taken in at around 4:50, after this time it becomes fairly busy and it will be easier to slip in unseen. The bomb needs to be placed behind the grand piano in the centre of the main dining room; this will be where the meeting takes place. Set the timer to start ticking at 6:30, the bomb has a 15-minute delay time.

After this is done I suggest you and your companions enjoy one of the famous cocktails from the bar, and then get the hell out. Three limo drivers have been specially briefed to take the three specified before into the busy streets and not let them arrive at the meeting. In no circumstances should the three be harmed.

Do not fail me.

Squall had found it, the piece of evidence that would send Seifer down for good and clear his name. He wondered why Ellone hadn't simply sent him this email, it would have shortened his search immensely.

Squall picked up his dorm phone and dialled Rinoa, he hoped that she would be in her dorm also and that he wouldn't have to go looking for her. He needed to get out of the Garden as fast as he could, as he was in no doubt that by now Seifer would have found out who he really was.

"Hello?"

Squall forgot for a moment where he was, Rinoa was repeating herself on the other end, and he knew she'd hang up on him if he didn't snap out of it.

"Hi, Rinoa? It's Texas, I need to meet you in Balamb Town in half an hour."

"I'm sorry, but it's a bit late notice…"

"No, I have to meet you there. It's important, I have to leave Garden and I havent got very long. I'll meet you be the fountain," Squall said before hanging up and heading for the door.

Rinoa listened to the dead buzz now coming from the phone. She frowned at the phone receiver as if it might yield up the answer. What could be so important that he couldn't just tell her on the phone? Knowing she had to go, if only to satisfy her own curiosity, Rinoa pulled her coat on and zipped up her boots.


	9. A disgraced or a charmed life?

**Author's Note**: Hello. Where to start? I was worried this story might never be updated, the files were deleted when my computer crashed, a very long time ago now. Thankfully I found a old version of this on a dusty floppy disk, which in it's self wasn't too much use as PC's these days don't have floppy drives. But hey, I'm back on track now. This has been totally revamped from what happened in the original version, I think three lines made the cut.

Thanks to everyone who urged me to write more, without you I would have given up when my computer did. So, thanks.

_**A disgraced or a charmed life?**_

Rinoa stood feeling self conscious by the fountain. She had been standing still what felt like so long, that she was beginning to wonder whether she had imagined the conversation with Texas, or whether it had been some kind of joke, and he'd decided not to meet her at all.

The wind was chilly on her face, and Rinoa pulled the sleeves of her jacket down to cover her hands. She wondered whether it might be better to wait in a near by café and keep a watch out of the window, but then decided that she wasn't going to spend even longer waiting. If he didn't show up soon, she was going to go back to Garden.

A group of younger girls passed her on their way to the harbour, and giggled when they thought she was far enough away. Rinoa knew she must look very strange stood on her own in the middle of the road, and it would look stranger still if no one came to meet her.

Finally she had the sense that someone was watching her, not that this caused her much alarm, as everyone in the town had glanced her way at some point. Yet this seemed different, a continued stared, and Rinoa turned to find herself gazing down the road at someone she had never expected to see again.

For a moment she didn't move, just stared, shocked and breathless. She was once again looking into the eyes of Squall Leonhart. She brushed what she discerned was a tear from her cheek, and took a step forwards. At that moment Squall turned to walk away from her, intent on leading them somewhere less overlooked, but his movement only made Rinoa panic.

She began to run towards him, but he seemed so far away. No, her mind screamed, it's all another dream, it can't be real. He can't be here. It just wouldn't be fair that he should come back now, not after everything, not in this way. It all had to be a dream.

Squall caught Rinoa around the middle as he changed directions into a side street. Rinoa looked up wide-eyed, still convinced that she was dreaming and that any second she might wake up.

She followed blindly, both walking in silence until they reached the edge of the town and were looking over the seawall and into the water. Squall turned to look at her, and then away. Rinoa thought she might not ever be able to speak again, her mind seemed blank, shocked into silence.

"I'm sorry it had to happen this way, but you had to know," Squall said, facing the water and not yet daring to look around. "I've been here for sometime now…"

Rinoa felt something click back into place in her mind. Squall was Texas, that was why he had seemed so familiar. His hair was still raggedly cut, but it was back to it's usual brown now, and whatever had been hiding his scar had been washed away.

"Why couldn't you have told me sooner?" Rinoa asked. Her voice shook under the weight of her words. "I wouldn't have told anyone, you know I wouldn't have."

"I couldn't put you in danger. Seifer has you watched everywhere you go," he let this sink in, he knew that this would be new information to Rinoa, and he didn't know how she would react. She said nothing, so he continued.

"Besides, you may not have wanted to know."

Rinoa frowned.

"Why would you even think that? I have wanted nothing more these past two years than for you to come back to me! Why would you think I wouldn't?"

Rinoa knew her temper was rising, but she could little to control it. This had all happened s quickly and without warning, that she didn't know how to react to it. Half of her wanted to hold him, to be back in his arms again, and the other half wanted shout and scream and hurt him as much as she could.

"I thought you might be happy, with Seifer… if you had moved on, I wouldn't have blamed you. I knew I must clear my name…But I had hoped you'd be here… waiting…"

Rinoa looked away, her eyes filled with tears. Did he really think she had forgotten him? Turned her back on their love for some other? For Seifer?

"Squall I loved you…" she said almost choking on her own tears. "Seifer, he… he was just there. I know it sounds terrible, I sound like a horrid person, but after you left, I didn't know what to do with myself. I thought I was going mad! And Seifer, he offered me a home, a place in Garden. I never stopped loving you, never!"

Rinoa took his arm desperately, he had to believe her. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like, seeing her with Seifer. Ignoring him, not even seeing through his disguise that was so painfully obvious now.

"Please Squall, I don't think I could stand it if you went away again."

Squall placed his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him. There was nothing that needed to be said in that moment. Rinoa needed to be close to him, and he needed to hold her, and nothing needed to be said.

Rinoa thought the world had stopped, as she cried silently against Squall's chest. She had been hoping for this moment for what seemed like forever, and whilst reality had hardly lived up to her dreams, she felt finally whole once more.

"I just don't understand," Rinoa said once the chilled wind had broken through her haze of contentment, and she was once again aware of it's harsh presence.

Squall lead her over to a bench, that was sheltered by surrounding buildings. They sat and watched the sea again for a few moments, whilst they both thought, one for questions and the other answers.

Squall knew he would have to explain everything, he had been prepared for her questions, but now that the time had come he felt his words disappear. It would be so much easier to tell her that it didn't matter, that he was back, and that was all she need worry about. But she deserved better, she deserved to know as he did.

"About a year and a half ago I was freed. They said that the court that had sentenced me had been found to be corrupt, and that on further inspection of the evidence, there was not enough to link me to the crime, if there had even been any at all."

Squall spoke as if he was reading something from the very back of his mind. A skill he had learned from years of making reports as a SeeD. Rinoa listened to his words that were being spoken without emotion, and didn't interrupt.

"Ellone was not present on my release day, nobody was."

Rinoa looked down ashamed. She had not known. Seifer had made sure that she had not known. But Squall must understand already, as he wasn't accusing, just simply relating the facts.

"I knew I had to return to Balamb, the life that I was living I didn't deserve. I kept looking for a way back, and eventually I heard what I needed to hear. There were rumours, people were convinced that the bombing had been deliberate, but if I wasn't the one who orchestrated it, then who?"

Rinoa sat rigid. Why had she allowed Seifer to take such control over her life? If she had never accepted his offer of so-called love, then she would have been free to learn all of this. Maybe even have helped.

"You know who it was?" she asked in a whisper lest the walls overheard her.

Squall made sure that he caught her eye, he looked at her for the first time without turning away. He had left her so unprotected, in a world that she was unsure about, to become a SeeD under the command of a fake hero. It would have been better if she had returned home to her father.

"Seifer."

He saw Rinoa's already pale face turn a deadly white. She looked away from him in shame, stood and walked some paces forward, and then back again.

"I can't believe…"

Squall ignored her exclamation. It had come as a shock, it all had. Whilst he despised Seifer for what had happened to him, he knew that Rinoa did not truly feel the same. She still cared for Seifer, somewhere in her heart, even if she too had been betrayed by him, feelings didn't just switch off when they were no longer wanted.

"I needed to return to Garden. I couldn't let Seifer win."

Rinoa nodded slightly. She knew there was no use in asking Squall to abandon this plan, it would only be selfish of her. He didn't deserve to lead a disgraced life whilst Seifer lived a charmed one, and how could Squall exist without Garden? He was Garden, SeeD was his life, and if Rinoa wanted to be a part of that life, she would have to help.

"Not everyone is happy that Seifer is commander," she said knowing that she was only aiding Squall in his determination to return. "There are those, mainly the older cadets that remember what Seifer once was. They would support you, I know they would."

Squall stood and nodded. Rinoa could see that he had finished talking, he was ready to act on whatever plan he had next, and Rinoa knew that it evolved returning to garden.

They walked in silence to the gates, Squall with his hood over his head to hide his hair. Rinoa's heart hammered in her chest and her legs felt weaker with every step she took. Whatever Squall had planned, she was determined to stay by his side, no matter what.


	10. Operation Return

A/N: Thank you everyone for the reviews!

_**Operation Return**_

Squall walked with visible confidence through the wrought metal gates which framed the entrance to Balamb Garden, and past the guard. There had never been a need for guards before Seifer took over, and Squall hoped this change might be for a more serious reason than the public would perceive. If Seifer needed guards, then it was most likely the people on the inside, and not the outside that he needed protecting against. People that did not like fact that Seifer was commander, people who Squall hoped would support his cause.

One of the men left his post, and confronted Rinoa, he put a hand on her shoulder to detain her. He looked over at Squall, his eyes daring him to protest. Rinoa looked at Squall too, worried what was coming next.

"I need to see some ID before you go any further," the guard said.

Squall met his eye.

"You know who she is, and I believe that you know who I am," Squall said watching as the man began to understand how much trouble was about to be caused.

The guard looked over to his friend, they shared a worried silent communication. He fidgeted as he thought, not wanted to be caught up in a fight.

"Hey, just doing my job man…" he said letting go of Rinoa and backing up a few paces. "You can't be here…I don't want any trouble...you don't want any either."

Rinoa took hold of Squall's arm and turned him to face her, the guards looked unlikely to alert Seifer, they looked unlikely to do anything, stunned as they were. But having been stopped by them, didn't lessen Rinoa's feeling of ever increasing danger.

"Squall, we could still leave," she pleaded.

Squall said nothing, he was staring forwards. Rinoa followed his gaze and then closed her eyes in defeat. She didn't know what Squall had hoped to achieve by returning, but they had been apprehended before they had even begun. Before them Seifer was walking in their direction, a smirk on his face.

He had a cocky jaunt to his stride, a confident air of being the victor, believing that Squall was finished.

Following closely behind him was an army of SeeD's, all in different uniforms to what Squall had seen so far, and all with the same facial expressions as Seifer. Clearly Seifer had been promoting his friends higher than they deserved, and the army before him was proof of how corrupt Garden had become without proper leadership.

"He's not going anywhere," Seifer said answering Rinoa. "At least nowhere he wants to go, seize him."

Immediately Seifers' army rushed towards Squall, but he did nothing to protest, there was no way he could fight that many people alone. Rinoa held his arm helplessly, and screamed as she was wrenched away.

Seifer laughed over the commotion of jeers and screams.

"Squall!" Rinoa cried desperately.

"Oh, Rinoa, did you really think this was going to be a happy ever after story?" Seifer asked striding forwards to speak loudly into Rinoa's face.

Rinoa found her right hand had slipped out of her captors grasp, and she raised it fast and slapped Seifer hard across the face.

Seifer looked at her enraged, his hand flew into the air, but Rinoa's captor restrained her once again, and dragged her backwards, forcing her down onto her knees. This manhandling, stopped Seifer from retaliating, and he lowered his raised hand.

"Lock her up somewhere," he said, turning his back on her, she was worthless and he wouldn't waste anymore time on her. "I need to talk to Squall."

Rinoa struggled as she was dragged away, desperately trying for once last look at Squall, before she was made a prisoner.

"Let me go!" Rinoa screamed as she was flung into the elevator.

"Sorry no, we can't do that. You see, we have orders," the man who had restrained her said.

He was accompanied by another in an identical outfit. The lift doors shut, trapping them in the confined space. Rinoa shifted her position on the floor. She had barely got comfortable before she was yanked upwards again.

"Please let me walk," Rinoa begged, frightened of being pushed around again.

"You might run," the man answered calmly.

"Oh really? And like where the hell would I go?" Rinoa replied feeling angry. The man dropped her down roughly. He seemed to be thinking about this, there really was nowhere for her to go, they were trapped in the elevator, and the odds were two to one.

The second man pressed the basement button, and they began moving. As soon as they began descending, Rinoa's guards decided it was a good time to begin talking.

"My name is Dan, and this is Kenny."

Rinoa stared at them opened mouthed. Was this some kind of sick joke? Were they going to torment her now? Wasn't being held against her will enough?

"I seriously don't care who you are!" she said incredulously.

"You will when you find out what's going on. Come on, we'll show you, and don't worry, we don't work for Seifer, he just thinks we do," Kenny said leading the way out of the elevator, and offering to help her down some stairs.

Rinoa remained in the elevator, still not sure, unwilling to accept that they meant her no harm.

"Seifer thinks we are working for him. Developing new weapons or something," Dan informed her, trying to persuade her to follow. "Ha! As if! In fact we are working against him. Right under his nose. Isn't that right Ken?"

"We have been onto Seifer ever since the bombing. How can some one so hated become everyone's best friend all of a sudden?" Kenny said.

Interested in their words, Rinao decided to follow them. As they walked Kenny tapped codes into doors to open them.

"I mean he shows up, out of the blue, barely two years after the sorceress war, disappears again for a bit, then comes back as the commander! Like, where has he been? What has he been doing? It was all too suspicious to ignore."

Rinoa raised her eyebrows.

"We don't believe Squall had anything to do with this at all. Seifer needed to frame someone for the bombings, and chose Squall because Squall had the most to lose. Knowing full well what the rewards would be if he succeeded, framing Squall made him a hero."

Rinoa tried to arrange her thoughts, but it was all so unbelievable, and so much had happened, that she felt she might never have a normal thought again.

"So, you're saying Seifer arranged the bombing, in order to become commander? He killed people to get to the top?" Rinoa asked. It was all becoming too hard to believe. Squall coming back, Seifer a killer, and yet, she knew the story she had been forced to swallow whilst Squall had been in prision, had never felt right. There was more truth in these crazy revelations than in anything else.

"She's got it K" Dan said finally, he grinned, but it was forced. "I am Captain Dan Trasdet, and this is my second in command Kenny Sorne."

Kenny smiled and nodded.

"We are the underground movement that Squall was so close to finding not too long ago. Welcome to operation _Return,_" Kenny said proudly.

"Hang on a minute. A secret organisation, in Garden?" Rinoa asked.

"We might just be able to help you. But there is someone you need to meet first, our boss."


	11. The Storm of Confusion

Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I'm trying to get as many updates done as I can whilst the muse is with me, and the assignment deadlines are far away.

**Chapter Eleven -- The Storm of Confusion**

A crowd was gathering, students wanting to know what was going on, SeeD's not knowing how to react. They stood and watched, jostling for a better view, watching Squall being detained and forced into the elevator. As soon as one SeeD recognised who Squall was, the effect was instantaneous; chaos erupted.

People began shouting, arguing amongst themselves, and Seifer's guards were distracted. SeeD's were shouting their loyalty to Squall, whilst others egged Seifer on. Some went as far as saluting Squall, but were quickly threatened back into line.

"Squall, I'm on your side!" someone shouted from the back.

"Yes, that's our commander!" another agreed.

In the frenzy, Squall's captors were depleted down to two, as Seifer lost control of the crowd, and all he could manage was to order that Squall be taken to his office. No one spoke on the journey upwards, his guards looked nervous, but stuck to their orders. Squall knew they were wondering whether Seifer would succeed in getting the mob back under control, or if they were now on the loosing side.

As they travelled, Squall heard a whirring noise, like power failing, but seemed to be the only one who had noticed. He braced himself for the sudden stop that he was sure was about to come.

The elevator shuddered, sending his two guards stumbling to the side. The doors opened, and Squall saw that they had halfway passed the first floor exit. The floor of the elevator was higher up than the exit floor, so Squall had to jump to make his escape.

His captors were following close behind him as he turned the corner to the first classroom, and Squall realised that he had no idea where he was going. As he turned the corner however, he came face to face with someone familiar, and only had a moment to dodge before she raised her hands.

"STOP!" she cried.

The magic shot passed Squall and hit his two captors in the face. They slowed instantly and halted in front of him.

"Hi Squall."

"Selphie?" Squall asked, surprised, and out of breath from his chase.

"These friends of yours?" Selphie asked looking at the two men. "Oh wait, Seifer's crony's, I can see the uniform."

They looked at each other, it seemed like only yesterday when they had all been friends, and Seifer had been nowhere in their lives. But it had been an age. Selphie no longer looked as carefree as she once had, and Squall supposed none of them had came through these past few years unscathed.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I didn't do it Selphie, and I'm here to prove it. Seifer has taken everything that was mine, but it ends now."

"Why didn't you contact Rinoa Squall, she was devastated. How can I forgive you for that, even if you are innocent?" Selphie asked. "We've been living in hell since you went, Seifer runs this place like his own personal army."

"It ends today. As for Rinoa, Seifer has her captive."

"I know," Selphie. "I cut the power. I saw what was going on downstairs, don't worry about Rinoa, Seifer wouldn't hurt her."

Squall hesitated.

"Hey, Rinoa's tough Ok. Look, there's a door at the back of my classroom, you can use it to get out onto the training fields."

Squall nodded. He was eager to try anything now, he wasn't much good to Rinoa hiding up here waiting to be captured again, at least he could escape and try rounding up some people to help.

All eyes turned on Squall as he followed Selphie into the classroom. The chatter that had filled the room died away into stunned silence, as the students watched him warily. They were young, at the ages of maybe five up to ten.

"Students, eyes on the board please. As the power's gone, and the lift is stuck, we will continue our lesson," Selphie said, walking to her desk.

She looked in her desk drawer for a key, and pulled out a white plastic card. Selphie handed it over to Squall, then she stopped mid action.

"I forgot, the door is locked electronically, you'll have to wait for the power to come back on."

"Don't worry," Squall said ignoring the cardkey and walking to the door.

The students watched excitedly, wondering what was coming next, and clapped and cheered when Squall cast a _Blizzard_ on the plastic door, and it cracked and shattered.

Leaving the classroom behind him in uproar, Squall turned to see Selphie wishing him good luck.

"Selphie, in my dorm there is a file of evidence proving my innocence, I can't return for it."

"It's OK I'll find it," Selphie said before saluting him on his way.

Once outside the classroom, Squall walked along a narrow corridor to a place he had never been to before. A heavy door appeared to be the only way forward, pushing it open revealed an old elevator. Carefully he stepped on, and selected the only button available, ground floor.

The old contraption jerked and began its way down on a system of very shaky pulleys. After a long bumpy ride it finally reached the ground floor. Without thinking, Squall stepped hastily off and looked around. There was a short corridor with a door at the end to his left, and a long dark corridor to his right. Taking a chance he chose the left, and hurried towards it before he could change his mind.

Squall covered his eyes, as he was blinded by the instant light that flashed in from the now open doors followed by a loud thunder crack. Stepping out cautiously, he was immediately grabbed from the side.

"Mr Leonhart. I thought I ordered you to my office?" A voice spoke from the dark surrounds, but although he couldn't see, Squall knew to whom it belonged.

"Well you know I can't take orders from scum," Squall replied, readying himself for the blow that would undoubtedly be the reward for his remark, but none came.

He didn't know how he had managed to be so unlucky, he had the feeling that Seifer had been expecting him, someone had tipped him off. But who?

"You disappoint me so much."

The lightning cracked overhead, revealing Seifer's insane smile, just inches from Squall's face. Spreading his arms, Seifer looked up to the sky and let the cold rain hit his upturned face.

"You thought you could take it all back Squall?" he challenged, his voice sounding wild and unhinged. "Don't you understand that it is all mine now?"

The sky replied with another streak of lightning.

Squall held his breath; this was the side of Seifer that not many people had ever seen. The unpredictable side. Where uncontrolled violence was ready to be unleashed. Gone was the confident smirk, and in it's place a mask of insanity that would explode at any second.

Seifer grabbed hold of Squall's shirt and pulled him nearer in a rough movement.

"You're going back to jail Squall!"

Squall looked up at the sky as he was dragged forcefully along towards the assembled spectators. They were out on the training battlefields, mud under their feet, and the gathering wind stealing their breath. Squall looked around at the people watching, only a few now cheered Seifer on. The rest looked frightened.

Seifer walked forwards confidently, looking around daringly for someone to oppose him. No one moved.

A few minutes passed in silence as the rain pelted down onto the crowd, and chilled everyone down to the bone. Squall waited, he wasn't afraid. Seifer could lie and threaten all he liked, but _he_ wouldn't be going back to jail, Seifer would.

_(Meanwhile underneath Balamb Garden)_

Rinoa, still sceptical, followed obligingly the two men who had declared themselves her allies. They were deep underneath Balamb Garden, winding their way through doors and corridors like a catacomb. She no longer wondered why Seifer hadn't discovered them, a person could get easily lost down here.

"Well, here we are," Kenny said opening a door and letting Rinoa walk through first.

As she stepped forward, the figure sitting behind the desk came into view like a past memory. She burst into laughter, the kind that came out of stress and hysteria.

"I can't believe you are the boss!" Rinoa said though her laughter. The person in front of her frowned and looked annoyed.

"And why wouldn't I be?"

"Because…you're Irvine," Rinoa said, her explanation not holding much weight. "Does Selphie know you've been living down here?"

Irvine looked at her as if she was insane.

"Of course, we've been dating for two years now!" he said, rather defensively.

Rinoa folded her arms.

"In secret?" she challenged.

"I'll have you know that that is the longest relationship I have ever had!"

Kenny and Dan stood to the side uncomfortably, when their boss had told them that he knew Rinoa, they hadn't realised it was this informally.

"Sir," Dan said interrupting. "We don't have much time, Seifer took Squall already, they are probably on their way."

Rinoa forgot all about Irvine's strange operations and secret organisation, and began to panic once more.

"What to you mean on their way? Where is he taking Squall?" she demanded, changing the atmosphere of the room.

"Seifer is going to try and send Squall back to jail. I'm sure my colleagues have told you, we've been following Seifer closely ever since he returned. But if we are going to do anything now, we need your help," Irvine explained.

Rinoa looked at them all. It had been a surprise to see Irvine again, Selphie had told her that he had left a long time ago. She supposed with her relationship to Seifer, her friends had had to keep her at arms length of their plans, afraid of her betraying them.

She didn't need to debate her answer however, and held out her hand for Irvine to shake.

"I'll do whatever it takes," she said firmly.

_(Back on the training fields)_

A car had arrived, it had bullied it's way through the spectators, and was waiting. Seifer was ordering people this way and that, but was finding it increasingly difficult, as his SeeD cadets were now extremely confused.

They followed, but reluctantly, his orders to return to Garden, but Squall knew he was losing control. They were in such a quandary about what to do, that if Squall were to shout out for them to fight, he knew they would. But Squall remained silent. This fight was between himself and Seifer, he wouldn't have cadets injured because of him.

"Get back in Garden!" Seifer yelled over the storm. "You there, round everyone up, tell them…tell them I'm in charge, not Squall Leonhart!"

The cadet picked on backed away, and the rage on Seifer's face heightened in frustration. They were following his order to return, but no one would support him any further.

"You!" he shouted at Squall. "In the car, now!"

One of Seifer's last remaining guards pushed him towards the car, and forced him in. Seifer peered in through the window, and smirked. His enemy was going back where he belonged, his garden was safe. He tapped on the driver's window.

"Make sure he doesn't escape," he threatened through the window, before sending the car off. "Bye Squall," he shouted after it, before laughing into the storm.


	12. A Realisation

Thank you everyone who read the last chapter!

**A Realisation **

"Rinoa, about two year's ago I was given an anonymous tip off about the bombings," Irvine said. "I don't know who the caller was, but I had some friends, Kenny and Dan here, who could trace calls. They traced it to Esthar."

Rinoa sat down slowly, remaining silent. If she had ignored Seifer, she might have known all of this was happening. She felt so guilty that she couldn't bear to think about it. She had thought all of Squall's friends had abandoned him, when in truth it was only her.

"The call was the break we needed to start doubting. Of course we knew Squall would never have hurt all those people, but at the time all the evidence seemed iron tight, we just didn't know where to start."

"And you still don't know who it was?" Rinoa asked.

"No, but it was a woman's voice, and she was very adamant. Seifer was paid to do the bombings."

Rinoa looked at the ground, the adrenaline in her blood was making her shake, it had been the worst few hours of her life, but also the best. She had seen Squall again. The thought of losing him once more gave her the strength to fight.

"But, if the woman was right, they couldn't you hack into Seifer's bank account and see if he'd been paid?" Rinoa asked.

"Sure we could, and we did. Seifer had been paid 100,000,000 gil. A hefty amount of money, don't you think?" Irvine said.

Rinoa couldn't help but gape, that was an obscene amount of money. He would never have managed to earn that, not even as 'Commander'.

"100,000,000 gil! He would never have been paid that from Garden. Not even if he had taken a high risk assignment!" Rinoa exclaimed.

"Exactly," Irvine informed her. "Squall did a bit of research himself, he got into Seifer's files; but what he found we don't know. We watched him very closely while he was here. But that is all I can tell you, because it is all I know. All our evidence is still not completely linked to Seifer, there is something missing."

"The person who organised it all," Rinoa stated, Irvine stayed quiet and let Rinoa sort things out in her mind. "The person who paid Seifer, that's who you need to find. That's the link you're looking for."

"Yes" Irvine replied. "And that's where you come in. We thought maybe you would have some idea."

Rinoa's face went blank, she didn't have a clue.

It was then that the door burst open, all four jumped and sprung to their feet. For a second Rinoa thought they had been caught, then she recognised the intruder. It was Selphie.

"I have it, Squall's evidence!" she said throwing the file towards Irvine.

Irvine immediately began reading, he looked up at Selphie and smiled.

"I think we should get to court."

Rinoa was about to follow them when she suddenly had a thought, it struck her like a shower of icy water. Squall. Where was he?

"What about Squall? He's with Seifer!"

She knew her voice sounded hysteric but she couldn't help it, she couldn't believe she hadn't asked sooner. However Selphie and Irvine didn't look worried.

"Rin, Squall's with us. Come on, we have to get going, he's on his way to court, one of Seifer's men is taking him there, but one of ours is with him," Selphie said, but Rinoa wouldn't move. "He's safe, I promise, we wouldn't be stood here doing nothing if he wasn't."

Rinoa nodded and hurried after them, of course they wouldn't have forgotten about Squall. She decided to trust them, if they said he was safe, then that was enough for her.

* * *

Seifer had managed to maintain some degree of control over the SeeDs, to a point where he could retreat to his office. With the only light coming from the PC, he looked up towards the slowly opening door, to a dark figure framed in the doorway.

"Ellone," he said into the darkness.

She was just a girl, but she frightened him more than he could say. The air was filled with anticipation as she walked towards him. She stopped at his desk, looking down at him, the glare of the computer screen reflecting eerily on her face.

"Seifer," she said in greeting.

Seifer smirked, his back was against the wall, and all he could think to protect himself with was indifference.

"That's Commander to you."

"Oh yes," Ellone said calmly. "Funny how you forget things that are of no importance."

He felt rattled by her calm behaviour, and felt like lashing out. He wanted her to fear him also.

"What do you want?" he snapped.

"I know you are trying to do, you're trying to send him down again."

"So?" Seifer replied.

"So, we had an agreement," Ellone said leaning over the desk, her face was hard. She wasn't smiling at him kindly, like she had when they first met.

"Yeah well, the funny thing about agreements is…you need to agree," Seifer said smirking, but his heart was hammering. He had no idea what she wanted.

"Do you realise just how hard I worked to get him out of jail? That was never part of our arrangement Seifer."

Seifer stood up violently, knocking papers to the floor. Ellone stepped back unnerved, she knew Seifer would be volatile.

"You paid me to take out all those people Ell, but you never told me I had to go to jail for it. Your precious brother is now paying that one for me."

"You are disgusting Seifer," Ellone whispered.

Seifer laughed as loud as he could manage.

"The fact is Ellone, if you tell the truth, you'll be coming down with me," Seifer warned walking threateningly towards her.

Ellone turned her head, she would not look into the face of the man who had ruined her brother's life.

"If that's what it takes to save Squall, then believe me Seifer, I will."

Seifer watched her leave, a sickening feeling in his stomach. This all balanced on lies, and evidence. Squall was already on his way to court, to face another trial. But if Ellone thought Squall might be found guilty once again, then he'd be the one on trial. There was nothing he could do, the trial would go ahead, there was nothing he could do to stop it now.


	13. The Trial

**AN: **Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. I hope this clears a lot of things up. There is to be one more chapter after this one, to wrap up loose ends. If there is anything you desperately want to know, put it in a review and I'll try and write you an answer into the next chapter. Thanks!

**The Trial**

"Laguna, I'm going. You can't stop me," Ellone said as she threw her belongings into the back of her car. "I have to do something to stop this."

"Laguna? Not dad anymore? Ellone, stop and talk to me," Laguna begged, standing by the car feeling helpless.

His life had already fallen apart; when Squall had been convicted he had thought his life over. He had almost given up being president, to crawl into depression. But when the sentence was overturned, and Squall was set free, he had tried his best to find his only son, but Squall had disappeared. He had had no idea that Ellone had known more than he had.

He still didn't understand what was happening. Ellone had told him everything, all about how she had been behind the bombings, and how she had paid an ex-SeeD to carry out her plans. But he still couldn't believe it.

"Why didn't you tell me before? You led me to believe my only son was a murderer!" Laguna demanded, but he did nothing to stop her. Ellone was determined to leave, and this was something he couldn't get involved in. He couldn't take sides against his children, all he could do was sit and watch.

Ellone laughed, but it was filled with hysteria and fear. Her face was gaunt; she'd stopped eating days ago. Under her eyes were dark smudges of tiredness, showing the world a lack of sleep, a symptom of a guilty conscience.

"Oh, as if he's never killed anyone before. I suppose he's a saint in your eyes now, after you've learned how evil I am!" she spat viciously, attacking her only supporter, the only one in the world who didn't hate her, and not caring if he turned against her.

She was too afraid to care what she said or did, she'd been living with such a dark secret upon her soul for so long, that it had finally taken its toll. She was reckless now, ready to face punishment for her terrible actions.

"Ellone that's not fair," Laguna replied as he watched her pull the car door open. "I just wish you'd tell me why you did it."

"I'm going to tell the whole world why. Squall won't be punished for this again."

"In that case, I'm going with you," Laguna said, climbing into the car beside her.

There was no way he'd abandon his children now, his self pity pushed aside, he'd been selfish to cry for himself throughout this.

The engine started and they were on their way to Deling City Court.

_The next day._

"The court calls for silence," the judge shouted at the front of the formally attired room.

The commotion died away instantly. The hearing had not been scheduled, and the lawyers had hurried to prepare their cases. It was Seifer Almasy who had brought the case forwards, but now it seemed he might be regretting that decision, as rather than sitting watching the proceedings, he now found himself a part of them.

He was sitting behind a glass screen, looking out on those that were attacking him. Squall was sitting beside his lawyer in the middle of the room, directly in front of the judge. Seifer didn't know how he had managed to acquire a lawyer so quickly, but then he saw Selphie and Irvine sitting in the stands behind. They must have helped him.

They were staring intently at Rinoa, who had been lead up into the stand. She looked Seifer's way, but her eyes went straight through him as if he wasn't there.

"Name?" the judge asked. It was a formality, he knew Rinoa Heartilly, she had been here many times appealing for Squall.

"Rinoa Heartilly, Sir," Rinoa said clearly, even though her confidence felt like it was being sucked out of her with a straw.

"Miss Heartilly, you are no stranger here. In fact it seems you can't get enough of these court hearings," a man in a black suit quipped.

The judge waved his hand at the man to quiet him.

"Mr Lansfeilds, you have not been called to speak. Miss Heartilly is not on trial here. Please remain quiet," a woman next to judge informed the room, before returning to take notes.

The black suited man sat down reluctantly.

"Miss Heartilly you have been called here today because you believe you hold some vital evidence. Is this so?" the judge asked.

"Yes."

"Then go ahead."

Rinoa looked around the room for Selphie and Irvine. She felt weak, her legs were shaking and she wished now that she had taken their advice and eaten something, it would be a disaster if she were to faint for lack of sugar.

Selphie gave her a thumbs up, and an encouraging smile, but Rinoa could see the fear behind it. They were all aware that this was likely to be the last time this case was ever heard, only this time, the one on trial wouldn't be Squall. At least, not if she could help it.

She prevented herself from looking at Squall. For all her hard work, it had been Squall who had freed himself. He was the one who had found the information that the lawyers had all been rifling through the past day. Rinoa took a deep breath and prepared to begin.

"A few days after the bombing took place, a hefty amount of money was paid into Mr Almasy's bank account. The sum was one hundred thousand gil. This we found was sent through an Estharian wiring account," Rinoa stated, into the silence.

She chanced a look up at Seifer; he looked deathly pale. He had been arrested, but not charged, not yet anyway.

"Miss Heartilly, my client earned that money from a mission relating to Garden," Mr Lansfeids said in voice that tried to convey Rinoa as stupid.

Rinoa stared at him with hatred. He was always in the court hearings; his job as far as Rinoa could understand was to make people nervous. She understood now that he was Seifer's lawyer, she'd never made the connection before.

"No, Seifer wasn't even employed by Garden at that time," Rinoa said looking this time at the judge. "And, even if he had been, he would never have been paid that much!" Rinoa half shouted.

Mr Lansfeilds rolled his eyes.

"Miss Heartilly if you going to be hysterical, then we will have to end this," he warned, walking to the center of the room, his black shoes clicking on the floor.

"No wait. I haven't finished!" Rinoa said as two men came to take her outside. But it was too late, Lansfeild had more power here than she did, and the judge seemed happy to agree. They'd all heard enough.

Seifer Almasy's bank account sounded suspicious, and it would be investigated, but it was unconnected evidence. Almasy might be charged with laundering money, perhaps, or he may well have acquired it honestly, but there was no way of finding out today.

The Judge was about to bring the hearing to adjourn, when a female voice asked them to wait.

"Name?" the judge asked.

"Ellone Loire," Ellone answered walking to the front. "Miss Heartilly is right, Seifer was paid that money for the bombings, and I know, because I paid him."

Silence fell over the courtroom. Squall had stood up in shock, but had bee forced to sit down again. Rinoa walked to his side, and no one seemed to notice that she had left the witness box, as all eyes were on Ellone.

"Let me get this clear. You are … confessing?" the judge asked, he stared at her amazed.

"Yes," Ellone said taking the stand without being asked. "It was not Squall. Squall had nothing to do with it."

The courtroom remained silent until Mr Lansfeilds laughed.

"Ha, this is a wind up!" he said laughing.

"No, I swear I'm speaking the truth," Ellone persisted.

Lansfeids walked out to the center of the floor. There was a gleam of sweat on his forehead, from where his heart was speeding and his brain was desperately trying to decide his next move. He could think of nothing.

The judge stepped in.

"After this shocking confession Miss Loire, you will be taken for questioning, where you will be charged if evidence is found against you," he said.

"I understand" Ellone replied calmly, even though her heart was pounding in fear. "But I want to speak first. I have to explain…"

Squall felt Rinoa holding his hand, but he could feel nothing else. It was if the world had stopped, he might have regained his life, but he was losing everything else. Ellone and Rinoa had been the only things worth living for, and even in his darkest despair he had always kept them close to him.

Was the price of one the downfall of the other? He looked at the ground until Rinoa whispered in his ear.

"Squall, your father is here."

He looked to the back of the room, where Laguna sat, his face frozen in horror. His family, who had invited him in when he had wanted none of their help, was falling apart now, all because of him. His sister on the stand, defending him by sacrificing herself, but why? He realised that she had begun speaking, and forced his mind to make sense of the words.

"I had been recently elected to top secretary at the presidential palace in Esther. At this level I had to deal with a lot of things that would never have been made public," Ellone said, her voice shaking. "I began to realise that the leaders of this world, who I had always held in such high regard, were none other than a group of small-minded dictators, always promising the impossible and staging war whenever they could. It's been like this for years."

"I began to believe we would all be better off without them. Best to get rid of all of them and elect new leaders, strong leaders who would listen to the people and act in their interest."

"I found some people who agreed with me, they were a rebel faction in Timber. The forest owls."

Rinoa blanched. That had been the name of the faction she had joined. She looked at Squall, but he was staring at Ellone, not moving, forcing himself to remain where he was, forcing himself to listen.

"They were fighting for the liberation of Timber against the Galbadians, at first their plans were small, that was until their numbers grew and their old leaders left. Slowly their attitudes changed, not content with small protests, they wanted something more. They convinced me to hire a SeeD to help them, but I hired Mr Almasy instead."

"I was ignorant, and didn't believe the plan would ever work. It's my fault those people died, I paid Almasy as an mercenary to help them, without him, they might have failed."

The uneasy silence in the room was slowly abating, as people found their voices. The judge coughed, and took off his glasses. He rubbed at his eye thinking of his next action. Ellone waited nervously. She had never told anyone about what she had done, but she would go though it all again if it saved Squall.

"Miss Loire, the statements you have made are heavy indeed, and in light of this confession we are placing you under arrest. Mr Almasy will be brought in for questioning," the Judge told the still silent room. "The court is adjourned."

The gavel slammed down, the noise of it hitting the desk rebounded around the room. It was a sign for both Ellone and Seifer to be led away. Suddenly Squall was on his feet again, fighting his way to the front of the room, against Rinoa who was desperate to keep him with her.

"Ellone!" he shouted.

He felt someone take his other arm, and realized that it was his father.

"Squall, I'll go with Ellone. Take care of Rinoa," his calm voice prevented Squall from acting rashly, he looked to his other arm to see that Rinoa was crying.

He held her tightly to his chest, where she clung to him in desperation. He would never be taken from her again, but she wouldn't take a chance. She'd never let go, never again. Selphie and Irvine joined them, they looked apprehensive and nervous, but they silently walked with them outside, where after so long apart, they could all go home.


	14. End

**A/N: Yay, final chapter. **

** -- End --**

**

* * *

Squall Leonhart, ex-commander of Balamb Garden has been pardoned today by the courts, after his wrongful arrest and jail sentence last year. The latest suspects await sentencing today after a bizarre confession made in court last week. **

**Seifer Almasy, renowned for his involvement in the last sorceress war has been sentenced to five years behind bars. The other person, who we cannot name for legal reasons, is serving two years of community service, five months of which will be a prison sentence. This was originally a one-year prison sentence, but it was lessened it to community service, in light of new evidence. **

**We sincerely wish Commander Leonhart all the best in the fourth coming years, and we hope that he might accept our apologies over, what has been, a terrible time. **

**This has been Stella Hope, reporting for Balamb news. **

Squall stopped the tape, and rewound it back to the beginning, when it clicked he turned off the TV. He'd watched the recording a hundred times or more since he had returned.

They had made him Commander once more, he'd accepted because he'd wanted something to take his mind off of things, but as the time went on, it grew harder to do. He was reluctant to take on too much responsibility as yet, he delegated as much as he could.

Dr Kadowaki had been and gone already today, he could still see the meal she had brought up for him on a far table. But he wouldn't touch it. The doctor had told Rinoa that she was concerned, but Squall wouldn't take any notice.

"Squall hasn't been outside for awhile now, I think it would be good for you both if you took a break from here. You know, go and visit some nice countryside or something, it would do him good Rinoa," had been Dr Kadowaki's words last night, and yet so far no one had been able persuade him to venture outdoors.

He preferred the office, looking through files, and watching the SeeD cadets hard at work. He was aware that he'd fought hard for where he was now, and he was wasting his days, but he couldn't seem to think straight, not after he had lost Ellone.

The phone rang at the side of him, Squall gazed at it lazily and then reached out his arm, with what seemed like a huge effort, and answered the call.

"Yeah, Hello?" he asked. He knew it was unprofessional to answer a call in that way, it might have been someone important, but he was past caring.

"Squall, is that you? It's Ellone….I need to talk."

* * *

"And he still won't leave?" Selphie asked over her fizzy drink. Rinoa shook her head. 

"He just sits there, staring at the TV, or in the office reading stuff over and over. Yes, I understand that he's been through a lot, and for it to be suddenly over is a bit of a shock, to say the least. But I'm worried Selphie. The doctor already told me he needs fresh air," Rinoa replied, her tone desperate and worried, she was losing sleep over Squall, but she had never once blamed him for his reaction.

"Rinoa for as long as I've know Squall, Dr Kadowaki's always been worried about him," Quistis said, Irvine scoffed at this and tried to retain a laugh. "But you're right, this time he needs to listen to us. He's going to make himself ill."

"We should get him drunk, everyone feels better after a few drinks, " Selphie suggested, her face lighting up. Zell shook his head.

"Until they remember why they're drinking," he said solemnly.

"Or a buffet lunch," Selphie muttered to herself.

"Well I'm going to go see him now. Maybe I can get him to eat something," Rinoa said, the exhaustion showing through in her voice, and as she walked, her movements were lethargic.

* * *

"I'm so sorry Squall, I just wanted to help, I never meant for it to turn out like it did," Ellone said. 

Squall could hear the tears in her voice and could imagine them on her frightened face. He couldn't stand the thought of her being in on of those cells; she'd been in there for two months now.

Ellone had been found to have been unduly influenced by the rebel organization, and as such had not been fully aware of the repercussions of her actions. This in a way had rendered her an innocent party; the information she had offered in court had all been learned after the events had taken place. However, it did not free her of charges, as she was deemed to have acted recklessly. This had lowered her sentence considerably, but the loss of her was still too much for Squall to bear.

"Ellone I…" Squall started but stopped, what could he say? He couldn't tell her that it would be alright, because he couldn't be sure that it would.

The laws that protected SeeD from being sent to prison for murders, had saved Seifer Almasy from a life behind bars. As SeeD, it was assumed that there would be a certain number of casualties along the way, and as such, there was a sort of get out of jail free card for members of Garden.

Although Seifer had not been a member of SeeD at the time, he had been contracted and paid. The court saw the employers as the villains of the piece, and the hunt was now on to find the members of the resistance fraction.

There wasn't anything he could say; the silence was speaking for them. It was as if they could read each other's minds. Squall wanted to say how much he missed her, even if they had never really been near one another before. It was just the knowledge, that he had a sister, and that she was happy somewhere in the world that had settled in Squall's heart. To think that she was crying in a dark cell somewhere caused him too much pain to think of.

Eventually he put down the receiver, her time must have run out as she had hung up long ago. He had only changed positions because there had been a knock at the door.

Rinoa looked at his face, her eyes filled with worry. In her hands she held a sandwich she must have bought for him at the cafeteria. She stepped towards him slowly.

"I've never seen you cry," she said softly as she came closer.

Squall remembered the tears in his eyes and wiped them away. Suddenly Rinoa began to cry also, but not silent sad tears like Squall's, despairing sobs that spoke of the world's end. The sight of her so broken cleared the fog from Squall's mind, he realised how selfish he had been to shut out the world.

He was hurting the only person he had ever loved, Rinoa, who he had fought so hard to find. He stood and walked towards her. Rinoa accepted his offer of comfort without any thought, wrapping her arms around him and crying into his chest.

"What would I have done if I had lost you?" Squall whispered, holding her closer.

She looked up, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. She smiled when he continued to look down her. She closed her eyes as he leant in to kiss her, and her tears started to fall again but this time she ignored them.

She'd been so afraid that she was loosing Squall all over again, losing him to his inner demons. She clung to him tightly, kissing him as hard as she could manage, never wanting to let him go, lest he should disappear again.

"I missed you so much," Rinoa whispered when Squall let her go. "Don't ever leave me behind again."

"Never," Squall promised.

There was a feeling of expectation in the air, they knew where the moment was leading, but were too shy to admit it. Rinoa felt herself blushing as she moved her hands gently over Squall's chest, feeling the heat of his body through his shirt.

Moving her hands up his chest and over his back, Rinoa managed to drop his jacket to the floor. Squall remained passive, allowing Rinoa to dictate what was to happen. He allowed her to lead his hands around to her back.

Suddenly Rinoa laughed, carefree and happy. Her laughter took their minds back to when this had been normal, before their world had been turned upside down, where they had spent every night together.

After that moment everything became easy again, it was if they had never been apart. Their kisses found their old rhythm, and their hands traced familiar paths, but this time their hearts hammered with a deeper intensity. Knowledge of what it felt like to lose the other, and how they would rather die than live through that again.


End file.
